Monkey D Law
by Trafalgar Neo
Summary: Law stared at his supposed twin Luffy. They looked nothing alike. They acted nothing a like. There's no evidence of Law actually behind born with Luffy. Confused, Law seeks answers that might lie with a girl he keeps seeing in visions.
1. Beginnings P1

Beginnings

Part One

 _He ran. Through the town set ablaze, he just ran. With no signs of an end to the madness, he continued to run until he could get to his destination. Guns fired. Loud pops in the air followed by the smell of hot gunpowder made him run even faster. The smoke around him was thick and it burned his small lungs. But he didn't allow himself to stop from the pain. He knew he had to get to them. He had to help them. He had to see them. So he continued to run. Finally, without anyone seeing him. He made it to the clinic. Busting into the building, which had not caught on fire like the majority of the town had, he ran to them. His heart took a sharp jolt in his chest when he found them._

 _They lay out before him on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood, their blood. The iron smell of their blood filtered into his nose. The smell made him sick. So sick it made his stomach turn. They weren't moving. He knew they were dead. It hurt to see them there. He wanted to help him. But he knew he couldn't. They were dead. No one can help the dead. He cried. He wanted to call out for someone to help him, but he didn't. No one was there to help. People were there, but they were the cause of this. They wouldn't help even if he had asked them. So with the sadness in his chest, with the smoke burning his lungs and eyes, he turned and left them. He ran out of the small clinic just before the fire in the town spread to it. He didn't look back. Not even when he heard the sounds of the building starting to cracked and fall. He never looked back. He wanted to but he never did. There was no point._

 _As he ran through the burning town more gunshots ring out into the air. People's voices cry out. Both penetrated his ears. He wished it all would go away. He wished this wasn't happening, but it was. And there was nothing he could do about it. Soon the cries of the people are silenced. Only the sounds of the fire snapping, buildings falling, and the soldiers' voices remained._

 _"Search the entire town!" one of the soldiers says._

 _"We can't let there be any survivors!" another soldier barked out. "Those are orders from above! If you find anyone, kill them on sight!"_

 _"Yes, sir!" a chorus of replies was heard before thundering sounds of boots on the streets echo into the air._

 _He ducked down a corner and hid behind a crate. His heart thundered in his chest. He knew if he was found he was going to die as well. This was an extermination after all. No one was going to survive this._

 _Once the soldiers had moved on, he carefully slipped out of his hiding spot and ran on. There was one place he had to get to. There was one more person he had to check on. He hoped and prayed she was still all right. But he knew deep down inside that she wasn't. She was sick to begin with. They all were. Even he wore the white patches of the disease on his skin. Even if he survived the fire and the soldiers, it would only be a matter of time before he died._

 _He finally arrived. His heart started beating faster upon seeing the woman lying on the ground. His eyes wondered over the bodies of the children that were near her. They were his classmates, his friends. They too were dead. Every single one of them. No longer would they speak with each other. No longer would they study, run around, laugh, or play. The entire town was dead. He was the only one who remained alive._

 _Tears stream down his cheeks as the woman looked up at him. She's not dead yet, but the life is draining from her eyes. She speaks to him. He can't understand her words. They are lost among all of the chaos. When he sees the life finally leave her body, he looks up to the building in front of him. It too has been set ablaze. Many lives were lost in there as well as the town. But one was most important to him. If only he could remember who he was coming to find, to save._

 _He dropped to his knees. The pain he was feeling became too much. This was all just too much for a child to see, to comprehend. This shouldn't have happened. Tears flowed from his eyes. A pain filled, terrified scream erupted from deep inside of him. He can feel something snap inside of him. Though he is not physically dead, he might as well have been. He was now emotionally and spiritually dead._

 _Gunshot and voices managed to pull him from his tears. He knows he can't stay here any longer. So forcing himself to his feet, he runs once more. Carefully weaving back through the burning town, he manages to avoid behind seen. He looks for a place to get away from here. He's too small to pilot a ship. And with all the soldiers walking around, there was no way he could get on board one anyway. Looking around, his eyes land on the only option for escape. And that is a pile of dead bodies._

 _He gulped. None of the faces looked familiar to him. He slowly crept closer to them, lifting the arm of a dead man up, he forced himself not to gag as he climbed under the bodies. Hidden with the dead bodies, he waits for them to be loaded up into the ships so he can escape. While waiting a body rolls over, slamming its foot into his face, making him jump and almost scream in fear at a dead body moving. He slams his hand over his mouth to keep himself from crying out. He looks towards the dead body when it started to snore. He blinks, confused. The body is just a body, an empty shell that shouldn't be snoring. But it does. The body rolls over again, kicking him once more, causing him to jump and_ finally wake up.

Law gasped as he sat up in bed. Cold sweat was dripping down his forehead and body. His chest heaved up and down as his mind cleared and he found himself alive in his and his twin brother's shared bedroom. He scanned his eyes over the room to make sure he really was awake and that this wasn't just another dream or nightmare. It was real. Or he thought it was real. Everything still seemed to be in place. Their two one dresser was still on the left side of their window, the window was open to allow the cool salty air from the ocean in, the nightstand beside him and his lamp, their blanket was currently half off the bed as it often ended up being thanks to Luffy's wild sleeping behaviors, and Luffy was still sleeping in bed beside him on his left. He looked down at his brother. Luffy's leg was draped over his own stomach. He released a relaxing exhale when he realized that it wasn't the dead body that had kicked him. It was his brother that had kicked him and it just filtered into his dream. The snoring also came from his brother since he was currently snoring.

"Stupid, kid," Law said as he stared down at his sleeping brother's body. It was sprawled out over the bed. Luffy's head was where his feet should be and his feet was where his head should be. Except with his left foot that was still currently on Law's stomach. Every night was the same thing. Somehow Luffy was always end up kicking him in the stomach, face, or else where. He was really getting tired of it. He was ready for his own bed and room. Grabbing his brother's foot, he started to push the young boy off the bed. He paused when there was a soft knock at the door. "Yes? Come in."

The door opened, revealing one of their caretakers. Mrs. Bay entered. Her grey streaked hair was pulled up into a neat bun like it always. Her dark green eyes were smiling with slight worry, as were her lips. She looked at Law and said, "Oh, you are awake. I was starting to get worried. You're usually up and dressed by now."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Bay," Law said. He ran his hand through his bedhead hair, messing it up even more because of the sweat that was on him. "I…didn't really sleep all that well last night."

"I see," Mrs. Bay said. She pushed up her glasses higher on her nose and walked over to the window.

Law watched her carefully as she crossed their room. He knew she wanted to ask him if he had that dream again, but he also knew she wouldn't ask. She rarely ever did. She usually left the asking up to her husband. He didn't mind. He wasn't one for talking about this particular dream, or nightmare, as it was. It only came usually about once a month or less. But for the past couple of months, the nightmare was increasing. He was now having it three times a month. He refused to let it bother him in the past, but with its increase of appearance, he was starting to wonder about it. Why was he having this reoccurring dream? Why was it always the exact same? Who were the people he kept looking for? The two adults that were lying in the blood, and the little girl he knew was in the burning hospital? He had no clue who they were or why he was even dreaming about a burning town like that. He didn't even know what town it was.

"I see you slept with your window open again," Mrs. Bay said. She placed her hands on the window ceil and looked out at the view of the ocean and of the town they had from their small house on the hill. "It got a little chilly last night. I wonder if you got a touch of a fever. Perhaps that is why you didn't sleep so well."

"It might have been. Luffy insisted on sleeping with the window open because he claimed he was hot," Law said. He swung his leg over the side of the bed and slid off of it. Once his feet touched he floor, he straightened out his twisted nightshirt while thinking how he apparently got a little wild in his own sleep last night. "But I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. I don't have a fever. I just need to get more awake."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Bay asked. She turned around and smiled at Law, carefully taking him in and his face. "You could just stay in bed if you're not feeling very well."

"I'm fine," Law said. "I can do my chores and study."

"Well, all right then," Mrs. Bay said. She moved away from the window. She grabbed the doorknob and stepped halfway out the door before adding, "Breakfast is about ready. Get dressed and come on downstairs."

"Yes, ma'am," Law said with a small nod. He watched as the old woman nodded back to him and then left their room without another word. He smiled. Mrs. Bay was such a nice, lovely old woman, and sick. She cared deeply for him and his brother, but often didn't express that through words. He knew she preferred to show things through her actions and let people talk when they felt like it. She was a very good listener. She was also a very good mother figure to him and Luffy. He didn't often say or admit it, even to himself, but he really did love Mrs. Bay. He wanted to become a doctor like her husband so he could cure her of the illness she had.

With the thoughts of her unknown illness wondering through his brain, he walked over to the window and looked out it. He knew he was still just a kid, but he knew he would someday be a doctor. He would find a cure for this illness she had and cure her and hundreds of others. And with his Devil Fruit powers he knew he could make that dream come true. Lifting his hands up, he stared down at them and thought of his Devil Fruit powers, a Devil Fruit power that suited him strangely well. He wasn't sure what his Devil Fruit power was exactly, but it had the ability to preform surgeries and cause bloodless amputations. He knew he could use that. But first he had to learn how to be a doctor the regular way. And that was going to happen with the help of Dr. Bay.

"Look out! I'm hungry!" Luffy suddenly shouted in his sleep.

Law looked over at his sleeping brother, his twin. Luffy was now hanging half off the bed head first. Sighing, he wondered back over to the bed. He pressed his finger to his brother's forehead and pushed him off the bed. A thump resonated through the room from Luffy's head colliding with the floor.

"Ouch!" Luffy cried. He sat up and grabbed his head. "That hurt!"

"Well, it's what you get for sleeping like wild animal," Law said. He stepped away from his brother's body and over to their dresser. He slid open a drawer and pulled out his a clean set of clothes before heading for the door. "Hurry up. Mrs. Bay said breakfast is almost ready."

"All right!" Luffy cheered. He jumped up from the floor and ran towards the door.

"Hold it," Law said. He grabbed onto the back of Luffy's shirt, pulling him back into the room.

"Hey! Let me go! I'm hungry!" Luffy demanded.

"You have to get dressed first," Law said. He gave Luffy a shoved towards their dresser. "You're not going downstairs in your pajamas. Now get dressed."

"Aw," Luffy whined while he trudged over to the dresser.

Law sighed and shook his head. It was always like this. Sometimes he felt like Luffy's mother rather than his brother. Stepping out into the hall, he paused upon hearing Mrs. Bay's coughing. Though he couldn't hear Dr. Bay's words to the woman, he knew the old doctor was helping his wife get through this coughing fit. He tightened his hold on his clothes, pressing them closer to this chest. He had to grow up faster. He had to become a doctor. He just had to. Pulling his thoughts away from what was going on downstairs, he entered into the bathroom just as Luffy joined him.

Luffy rushed through his morning routine while Law was calmer about his morning rituals. His mind was lost on his dream of becoming a doctor and the nightmare he had. He barely listened to Luffy going on about his own dream. "What do you think, Law? Law? Law?!"

"What?!" Law asked when he heard Luffy yell into his ear. He rubbed his ringing ear and looked at his brother. "And don't yell at me like that! Do you want me to go deaf?!"

"I didn't yell that loud," Luffy said. "And besides, you were ignoring me."

"I wasn't ignoring you, I was lost in thought," Law said. He grabbed their shared hairbrush and ran it through his hair, taming some of his wild tresses, but his hair still stood up. It always did.

"You were ignoring me," Luffy said through his pooched out lips.

Law sighed. There was just no arguing with Luffy when he was like this. And that was something he knew very well. "Fine. I'm sorry for ignoring you. What did you want?"

"Do you think Shanks will visit today?" Luffy asked. His poochy lips were quickly replaced with a bright smile. "I was dreaming about him taking me out on his ship!"

"Not again with that pirate," Law said. He turned to Luffy placing his hands on his hips he frowned. "You know Grandpa doesn't like it that you talk to that pirate."

"Its just Shanks," Luffy said. "He's a good friend."

"He's a pirate, Luffy," Law said. He tapped his knuckles onto his brother's forehead. "Pirates are dangerous."

"Shanks and his crew isn't dangerous!" Luffy said, pushing Law's hand away from him. "He's mine friend! And I want to see him! Today!"

Law released a grumble of annoyance. He said, "Fine. But I doubt he'll arrive today. You know how they are. They travel all over the place. They only come to this island when they're in the area."

"I know. But _when_ will they come here again?" Luffy asked. "I really, really want to see him."

"I know you do, Luffy," Law said. "But you have to be patient. Traveling by ship takes time. And his visits always are random. He'll get here when he gets here. But you better take it easy with the talk about him and becoming a pirate. You know Grandpa wants us to become marines."

"Yuck! I don't want to become a marine! I'm going to become a pirate!" Luffy declared.

"Sure you are," Law said. He ruffled up Luffy's hair as he step towards the door.

"I am too! You just wait and see!" Luffy called after Law as his brother disappeared down the small hallway.

"Sure thing, Luffy," Law said. "Come on. Breakfast should be ready by now."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered and ran out of the small bathroom.

Law paused when he was at the top of the small staircase. The staircase that Mrs. Bay used to walk up and down, but doesn't do it much anymore. Since her illness settled into her about nine years ago, she and Dr. Bay had been living downstairs. One of the rooms had been converted into a bedroom for them to sleep in and a second bathroom had been added into the downstairs as well. He and Luffy had the entire upstairs to themselves. But it wasn't much. Only a small hallway closet, the small bathroom, and their small bedroom were the only things upstairs. There was an attic, but no one ever went up there anymore. The only occupants of that space were mice, maybe a rat or two, the occasional squirrel, and whatever critter managed to make their way into the small space.

"Let's eat, Law!" Luffy said, pulling Law from his thoughts of their small home.

"Right," Law said, looking down at his brother who was already halfway down the stairs. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his black shorts and followed Luffy down the stairs. Once he had reached the bottom, Luffy was already sitting at the table with his fork and spoon in hand. He took his time in walking over to the table. His steel colored eyes wondered over the house. This room was an everything room. Since some of the house had been converted into a bedroom and a bathroom, this room became the kitchen, dinning room, and the living room. Off to the other side of the kitchen was the tiny hallway that led to the doctor's clinic. Often he went into town to treat those who were sick, but a lot of the time he needed his patients to stay here. Usually those patients were ones who needed surgery. That was preformed in the clinic and they would stay however long the doctor deemed it necessary.

"Good morning, boys," Dr. Bay greeted them. The old man was already sitting at the table. He looked up from his newspaper to give the boys a morning smile before letting his black eyes drop back to the newspaper.

"Morning!" Luffy replied.

"Good morning," Law said. He pulled out his chair and climb up in it. His eyes fell upon their breakfast, one egg each, a piece of toast-an orange for him since he didn't like bread, a small bowl of oats, and a small cup of milk. His eyes then lifted up to Mrs. Bay. He easily noticed she looked sicker than she did when she was up in their room just a few minutes ago. He could feel his heart sinking into his chest. He didn't like to think that they could lose her one day, but he knew it was a possibility. Death came to everyone. There was just no way of stopping it. But he still wanted to delay it for as long as he could, at least until he could find a cure to her illness. "Mrs. Bay, I would like to help with cooking meals."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Bay said with a warm smile. "You work hard enough as it is."

"Yeah, but…" Law started but before he could finish, she cut him off.

"That's very sweet of you," Mrs. Bay said. "But if you took time to help me cook, you'd lose a lot of time to study. And that is more important."

"I know, but…" Law said. He wanted to argue with her, but he didn't know what to say. Mrs. Bay was use to taking care of them and the house. And she was correct. If he did take time to help cook it would cut into his study time. He only was six years old. Some called him gifted for being able to understand all of Dr. Bay's medical books and terms, but he wasn't sure if he was. It just felt natural to him to study medicine. It came extremely easy. Maybe he was gift after all and was just humble about it? He didn't know. All he knew was he was meant to become a doctor, a surgeon. It was his destiny.

"Don't worry about it, Law," Dr. Bay said from behind his newspaper. "You have more than enough to handle at your age. Not only do you have your studies, you also have all your chores. You need to spend more time playing. You're a kid. You shouldn't be this swamped as it is."

"You're not going to stop me from studying, are you?" Law asked. A pang of fear stabbed into his chest at the thought.

"Heavens, no. I'm not going to do that. You're gifted in the medical field. And I have plans to nurture that fully," Dr. Bay said. He flipped to the next page without looking over at Law. "Now eat your breakfast. Mrs. Barton is expecting you two soon."

"Yes, sir," Law said. But he didn't eat. He continued to stare at Dr. Bay. The old man still had his eyes glued to the newspaper. That hardly ever happened. Usually when it did, it was because of some big news. And if it were big news, the old man would always share it with them. It made him wonder what the doctor was trying to hide from them.

"Hey, Law, if you're not going to eat your breakfast, can I have it?" Luffy's voice asked.

Law snapped out of his staring to find Luffy's hand and fork moving closer to his breakfast. He slapped his brother's hand. "Stop that! It's mine!"

"But you're not eating it!" Luffy protested. He pulled back his now red hand and rubbed it.

"I am too!" Law said. He picked up his fork and sliced off a piece of his egg. "See?"

"No fair!" Luffy whined.

"You already had yours!" Law said.

"But I'm still hungry!" Luffy said.

"Here you can have my bread," Mrs. Bay said while scooting her plate across the table towards the young boy.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered as he took the piece of bread and shoved half of it in his mouth.

"You shouldn't do that. You're spoiling him too much," Law said.

"Well, you're like my own children. I'm entitled to spoil you every once in a while," Mrs. Bay said with a smile.

Law really couldn't argue with that. She did occasionally spoil them despite not having a lot of money. So he just sat quietly and ate his breakfast. Once he was finished, he picked up his plate and cup and moved it into the sink. He looked at the doctor when the old man grabbed his coat from the hook by the door and pulled it on. He asked, "Are you going on rounds today? I thought you were in the clinic."

"I will be in a little while," Dr. Bay said. He grabbed his brown fedora and placed it over his baldhead. "Mrs. Paxton is a bit anxious about her due date. She asked me to come over if I ever had the time."

"Are first time mothers always this anxious?" Law asked.

"Not all of them, but a lot of them are," Dr. Bay said with a nod. "And she's still pretty young herself. She's a bit unsure about all of this. I'm just dropping by to give her a little extra comfort. Her husband is almost as nervous as she is. Sometimes I think he's more nervous than she is. I'm just giving them a little extra attention to ease the dwindling time till the baby's arrival. It's a good thing for doctors to do this. Or I think so anyway. This builds up trust between the patients and doctor. And trust is very important in this profession."

"I see," Law said.

"Well, I'm off now," Dr. Bay said. "You and Luffy should get going too."

"Right." Law nodded. "Are you ready, Luffy?"

"Yeah! I'm ready!" Luffy said. He jumped off of his chair and ran towards the door. "See ya later!"

"That boy," Law said with a sigh.

"He's just young. So are you, Law," Mrs. Bay said.

Law turned his eyes back to her. She was still sitting at the table, a warm smile still on her lips.

"Try to have some fun today," Mrs. Bay said. "All right?"

"All right," Law said despite knowing he really wouldn't. With a few more seconds of staring at her, he forced himself to turn and follow Luffy out the door. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked along the worn path of the small yard outside of their home. He watched as Dr. Bay disappeared down the road towards the town. They were going in another direction. They were heading to the Barton Farm. It was a small farm that he and Luffy did some chores on. They help take care of the animals and gardens. From this, they got enough money to help pay for their clothes and some food that was produced on the farm. He was really grateful for this. While they really didn't do much, they weren't allowed to work the large farm equipment, but what they did it helped out Dr. and Mrs. Bay. Sometimes Dr. Bay's patients didn't have money to pay for his services. So working on a farm really did help when those times happened. He never was sure why Dr. Bay allowed people to not pay for his services for a while. But he understood when he saw one of the patients who couldn't pay. She was an elderly woman who couldn't work. She was fully reliant on others to provide for her. Even Mrs. Bay with her own sickness helped the old woman out. When she had enough supplies to make a pie or cake or cookies, she always made an extra one for the old woman. That was the kind of doctor he wanted to be as well. He wanted to help people but not limit himself to those who had money to pay him. He knew not everyone was lucky enough to have money and they still needed help from doctors.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered.

Law looked up at his brother. Luffy was on the small stonewall that lined up against the worn path they were walking on. He huffed at his brother. Sometimes, a lot of the time, he wondered how it was possible they were brothers, twin brothers. They never seem to have anything in common. Luffy was more loud and out going while he was more calm and collected. But here they were. Brothers. Born from the same mother despite never having any pictures to prove their birth. Sometimes he had to wonder if they really were related by blood. Luffy had black eyes while he had steel colored eyes. They shared the same black untamable hair, but that's where the similarities ended. Where everything else was concerned, they had no similarities. He wanted to be a doctor. Luffy wanted to be a pirate. Luffy admired a pirate. He admired a doctor. Luffy wanted adventure on the open seas with a crew he gathered on his own and steal from people. He wanted to remain on the island and help people. Luffy liked a lot of meat while he liked grilled fish and onigiri. His skin was also darker than Luffy's.

How was it possible they were related? Who exactly where they anyway? They really had no idea who they were or where they came from. They knew very, very little of their mother while their father was basically a ghost. Often he thought that they didn't even have a dad. But the fact that they were born was proof they did have a dad. He often wondered about their dad too. He would think about the type of man he was. Was he a good man? A bad man? But then what kind of good man would run off and leave his children behind? He wondered if some kind of duties kept him away. He thought at one point that maybe their dad was a Navy soldier. But if he was then their grandpa would have told them about it. So that left him with the idea that their dad was a bad man. Maybe a bandit. Or someone who just like to travel and didn't care about responsibilities to his family.

Law looked up at his brother again. Luffy was now off the rock wall and was chasing after a couple of squirrels. That could be trait that rubbed off on Luffy. Luffy did want adventure and become a pirate. Maybe their dad was a pirate. He hoped not. But surely his brother's desire to become a pirate wasn't completely the fault of Red Haired Shanks. The red haired man was only here from time to time. He didn't know. And he knew that he would probably never know. This world was extremely big. They might never ever come to find out who their dad is or was. Perhaps he was dead and their grandpa just didn't want them to know for whatever reason or reasons. He pushed the thoughts from his brain just as they arrived at the Barton Farm. It was time to stop daydream and get to work. They had a lot of it. It was their job to feed the animals, clean out their stalls or homes when it was needed, and work in the garden when that was needed. One of the horses whinnied upon seeing the two brothers. "I know, I know. I'll have your breakfast soon. Luffy! Leave those squirrels alone and get to work!"

"Aw, okay," Luffy said. He picked the squirrel up off his head and sat it down on the ground with the other squirrel. "Sorry. I can't play anymore. I'll see you later."

The squirrels chittered and chattered. They watched the young boy run away from them before turning and scampering away themselves.

The two brothers then settled into their morning chorus for the farm. They spread out hay for the cattle, gave feed to the horses, goats, and chickens before mucking out the stalls. While Law was hauling water for the chickens, he noticed Luffy was once again shirking off from his chores and was playing with the goats. "That child. He needs to stop goofing around so much. Hey! Luffy! If you get those goats angry again I'm not saving you this time!"

"Whatever!" Luffy shouted back. He didn't turn to look at his brother sigh and disappeared into the chicken house. He just kept his eyes locked onto the gray and white bill goat in front of him. While staring at the goat's eyes, he started making funny faces. The goat just watched him as he chewed on the hay he had in his mouth. "Stupid goat. Is all you do is stand there, chew, and stare?"

The goat did. He just continued to stand there, chewing on his hay while staring at the boy in front of him.

"I'll make you move," Luffy said. He looked down at the ground. Lying beside his foot was a stick about a foot long. He chuckled and picked it up before turning his attention back to the goat. He then started poking the stick at the goat's nose. "Come on, goat. You're very boring. Do something all ready."

…

Law grabbed the end of his bucket and poured the water into the chickens water bucket. He then turned his eyes to the nests. He checked to make sure all of them were still filled with hay and dry. When he deemed everything with the chickens looked just fine, he headed for the exit. Just before reaching the door, he heard Luffy's scream. "What is he doing now?" He ran outside to look for his brother. He found his other half in a tree. Hanging from a limb while the old billy goat rammed into the trunk of the tree. "Luffy! Where you aggravating the goats again?!"

"No!" Luffy shouted.

"Don't lie to me! That goat wouldn't be ramming that tree if you didn't bother him!" Law screamed.

"I wasn't bothering the goats! I was only poking him in the nose with a stick!" Luffy said. His little body swung from his hands as the goat rammed into the tree again. "Help me!"

"No! I told you before I wasn't going to save you if you bothered the animals!" Law said. He turned to stomp away from his lunatic brother. He stopped when he heard Luffy scream again. Whipping around, he held his right hand up just as he saw his brother losing his grip on the tree branch. "Room!" A smoke like ring spread out from his palm, it extended a blue sphere over the immediate area. "Shambles!"

Luffy's body disappeared from the air and was replaced with the bucket Law had been carrying. Luffy reappeared right beside Law. Law watched at the bucket he put in the place of his brother fell down and hit the goat on the head. The goat looked at the bucket as it rolled to a stop on the ground. He stared at the object curiously for a minute before walking over to it. He sniffed the bucket then, with his anger towards the boy forgotten, the goat walked away to join the rest of his herd in grazing.

Luffy stared at the goat walking off before he tackled his brother. "Wah! Thank you, Law! You saved me!"

"Ah!" Law screamed as his brother rammed into him, sending him flying onto his back. With one arm he managed to keep free from Luffy's grip, he bonked the young boy on his head. "You moron! Don't jump on me like that! And I wouldn't have had to save you if you had left the goats alone like I told you to!"

"But I just wanted the goat to move!" Luffy said. "All he was doing was standing there and staring at me while chewing! It was very boring!"

Law growled. His brother really was a real idiot at times. But he never could stay angry with him for very long. He wasn't sure why. His brotherly or his doctor instincts always took over. Just like they were doing now. His steel eyes were running over his brother's face. Luffy had a few bruises, tears, and was covered with dirt, but it didn't look like he gotten any serious injuries. It made him feeling glad his rotten little brother wasn't seriously injured. He didn't know what he would have done if he was. He had first aid training but he hadn't had enough practice to know if he could do it on his own yet. And he wasn't really in a hurry to find that out, especially if it was his brother that was the one hurt. He sighed, something he does a lot with Luffy around. His fist relaxed and he placed his hand on Luffy's head, messing up his already messed up hair. "Just stop annoying the animals, Luffy. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Okay." Luffy nodded.

"Come on," Law said. "Let's get back to our chores. Mrs. Barton will probably come out here soon with lunch for us."

"Right!" Luffy said. He released Law and jumped to his feet with his arms stretched out to the sky. "I can't wait! I'm so hungry!"

"Geez. All you ever think about is food," Law said. He picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off before walking away from his little brother.

"Wait for me!" Luffy said.

…

Mrs. Barton, a tall, curvy woman with long brown hair and matching eyes, walked over to the two boys as they brushed off one of the horses. She placed her free hand on her hip and smiled at them. "Well, you two sure are hard at work."

"Thank!" Luffy said with a smile from on top of the chestnut mare.

"Are you too busy for lunch?" Mrs. Barton asked while holding up the picnic basket that was in her hand.

"No! I'm starving!" Luffy said. He tossed his brush on the ground and jumped off the horse. He ran right over to the woman as she sat down on the ground and opened the basket.

"Calm down, Luffy," Law said. He placed his own brush down on the ground and walked over to Mrs. Barton while Luffy started shoving food into his mouth. He sat down and took the plate of onigiri the woman was holding out for him. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome," Mrs. Barton replied. She then stretched out her long legs and rested back on her hands while watching the boys eat. "So how is Mrs. Bay doing today?"  
"She's fine," Law said. "I think she's had a rough morning though."

"Oh," Mrs. Barton said with a light frown. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'll have a little free time tomorrow afternoon. Will you please tell her I'm planning on stopping by for a while?"

"Sure," Law said. "We'll tell her."

"Y-ah! W-ll t-ll h-r!" Luffy said through his mouthful of sandwich.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not talk with your mouthful?" Law asked.

"I -unno," Luffy said with his mouth still full.

Law sighed and forced himself to let it go.

…

"Geez what a morning," Law said as he and Luffy made their way back to their home shortly after two o'clock. Both boys were carrying a basket full of fruits and vegetables from the Barton Farm. "I felt like we were never going to get our chorus done today. It didn't help that you kept annoying the animals like you did. When will you learn?"

"At least we can eat now," Luffy said. He picked up an apple from the basket and tried to take a bite of it. Before he could, Law's fist slammed down on his head, causing him to drop the apple back into the basket. "Hey! What was that for?!"

"Stop thinking about food all the time!" Law ordered.

"But I'm hungry!" Luffy complained.

"You're always hungry," Law said.

"Just one apple?" Luffy asked. He held up the apple again and gave his brother big round puppy eyes.

Law's eyebrow twitched. Once again he felt himself caving to his younger sibling. He sighed heavily and said, "Fine. Just _one_ apple."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered before sinking his teeth into the juicy red and white treat in his hand. "So wh-t ar- -u go-ng to -o n-w? I -ink -m go-ng t- -o in- t-wn n se- if Sh-ks -ill -e -iving so-n."

"Don't talk with your mouth full. I'm going back home," Law said. "I want to start on my lessons early."

"Seriously?" Luffy asked before swallowing his apple.

"What's wrong with that?" Law asked, slightly offended.

"You study far too much. You need to have some fun," Luffy said. He tossed away his apple core then reached for another one. He protested when the basket and its contents disappeared from his hand. "Hey!"

"I'll take these home," Law said now carrying both baskets as this Room faded away. "You go see if Shanks is coming."

"I thought you didn't want me to do that," Luffy said.

"It's better, if only slightly, than letting you eat all these fruits and vegetables before we even get them home," Law said.

"Fine! I'll see you later!" Luffy said as he ran off towards the town.

Law watched his brother run down the hill towards the town before continuing on his way home. "Good now I can get some real work done without him hanging around and complaining he's bored."

…

"Hello. I'm back. Mrs. Bay? Where is she?" Once back to the small house, he entered into the quite kitchen and looked around for Mrs. Bay. When he couldn't find her, he placed the baskets down on the floor near the table and walked through the room. Going to the back of the room, he found Dr. and Mrs. Bay's bedroom door slightly open. He carefully opened it more and peaked inside. Mrs. Bay was lying on the bed, fast asleep. Walking as quietly as he could, he made his way over to her. Staring at her wrinkled face, he noticed she appeared to look older and paler than she did earlier this morning. He hoped he was just imagining things. He then grabbed her blanket and pulled it farther up on her shoulders before silently slipping out of the room. He closed the door then went back to the kitchen to wash off the fruits and vegetables. He then put them away before heading into the clinic where Dr. Bay kept all of his medical books.

He made his way through the small hallway and into the door that separated the two small buildings. The clinic was just as silent as the house. He figured Dr. Bay was still out doing some more rounds in town instead of coming back here like he said. So he passed through the waiting room and into the small office off to the side where the doctor had private talks with his patients. This was also the room where he and the doctor would do their studying. This room, like all the other rooms was small. There was only enough room for some bookshelves, one full size desk, a small study desk for Law to sit at and three chairs. One of the chairs was for the doctor while the other two were usually for patients. Law would use one of those chairs while studying. He ran his eyes over the books before grabbing a couple and settling in at the doctor's desk to study until the doctor came back.

Law wasn't sure how long he had been studying for until noises from the house caused him to look up from his books. From the window in the room, he noticed the sun was starting to set. He had been studying for hours. He closed the books and replaced them on the shelves before heading back to the house. Walking through the small hall he could smell dinner being made. To his surprise, the doctor was cooking dinner tonight instead of Mrs. Bay. "Dr. Bay, you're cooking dinner?"

"Yes. Marina isn't feeling too well this evening," Dr. Bay said. He then smiled at Law from the stove. "But don't worry. She'll be fine. She's just a little tired. I told her I'd cook dinner tonight so she can rest."

"I see," Law said. He then noticed Luffy sitting at the table with his face planted in the wood. "What's wrong with you?"

Luffy mumbled something.

"What?" Law asked, tilting his head.

Luffy mumbled again.

"Will you get your face out of the table and talk like a normal person?" Law asked with his hand planted firmly on his hips.

Luffy rolled his head so he was now facing Law with a depressed expression. He said, "Shanks isn't here. And no one know when he'll arrive."

"I told you so," Law said. He then walked over to the sink. Moving a small stool closer to it, he climbed upon it and started peeling potatoes that the doctor had sitting out on the counter.

"But when will he come back?" Luffy asked in a very whiney tone.

"Luffy, stop whining!" Law snapped. "He's a pirate. They travel all over the seas. Traveling by ship takes weeks, months, to get from one island to another."

"But _when_?!" Luffy asked again.

Law sighed heavily while the doctor just chuckled humorously. "Fine. Let's see…he was here about two and a half months ago. So going by that, he'll probably arrive here again within the next month or so."

"Really, Law?" Luffy asked. He sat up straighter in his chair. His depressed look now replaced with a hopeful smile. "Do you really think that's when he'll show up again?"

"Most likely. Unless he gets killed or arrested by the Navy before that happens," Law added thoughtfully.

"Hey! Don't say that about Shanks!" Luffy screamed. He jumped off his chair and pointed at Law. "Shanks will never die! And he's too smart and strong for the Navy to even come close to catching him or killing him!"

Law stuck his tongue out at Luffy before saying, "Keep it down. Mrs. Bay is sleeping and needs her rest. If you scream one more time, you're going to bed without dinner."

"He-" Luffy clamped his hand over his mouth to keep himself from yelling. He didn't believe Law would actually keep dinner from him, but he didn't want to chance it. "Fine. I'll be quiet. But you better not talk about Shanks like that again."

"Deal," Law said before turning back to his potato peeling.

…

"I really do hope Shanks comes back here within the next month," Luffy said as he hung out the window and stared out at the moonlit and star speckled sea.

"I'm sure he will," Law said from his dresser. He pulled out a black shirt and pulled it over his still damp hair. He shut the drawer then walked over to their shared bed and climbed onto it. The cool, salty sea breeze flowed into their room, causing him to shiver a bit from his wet hair. "Close the window and get into bed. It got too chilly in here last night. We're still damp from our bath. I don't want either of us to get sick."

"All right," Luffy said. He dropped down from the window and closed it, but left the curtain open. He then ran over to the bed, jumped onto it at the foot, and crawled up to the top. He slipped his legs underneath their covers before plopping down onto his pillow. "Good night, Law."

"Good night, Luffy," Law said. He flipped of their lamp on his side of the bed. Before he even got to lie down on his pillow, Luffy was already snoring. "Well, at least he never has trouble going to sleep."

Law sighed and lay down to stare up at the ceiling. He was tired from the day's work and wanted to sleep but also he didn't want to sleep. He really didn't like that he kept having that dream. And he didn't like that he kept dreaming about people and a town he didn't know. Or he didn't think he knew them. Something about them was familiar. It was almost like he was having a memory from another life but in the form of a dream. He had to laugh at that. There was no possible way that this could be memories from a form life. Once you died, you're dead. You're not reborn or anything.

He rolled over onto his left side. His eyes landed on his brother's sleeping form. His brain got to thinking about his thought from earlier that day about him and Luffy. Or was he wrong? Was that dream he was having really a memory from a past life? That would explain why he and Luffy had nothing in common. He shook his head. "Stop it. That's just silly. There's no such thing as former lives. That dream is just a stupid, silly dream. It means nothing."

With a solid nod and huff, Law forced the idea out of his mind and closed his eyes.


	2. Beginnings P2

Beginnings

Part Two

Law sighed in his sleep just before his mind started to really wake up for the day. He opened his eyes then rolled over onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling, realizing he had a dream free sleep again. Nothing about an alternative life has come to him for the past two weeks. He was starting to feel a little silly about how he acted before with those dreams or whatever they were. Surely dreams were all it was, bizarre pictures running through his mind. He was Monkey D. Law. But with the thought running through his head, he couldn't help but feel that it was wrong. He groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "What's wrong with me? Why do I keep thinking like this? Why do I keep questioning who I am?"

With another sigh, Law placed his hands back down on the bed beside his body. He was lost in thought. _Maybe I should do some research on former lives. I don't know many books that talk about that, but surely there are some. I might have to get them from another island though._ He shook his head. _What am I thinking? This is crazy. There are no scientific evidence that people can have more than one life. I'm just stressed out over Mrs. Bay. She just keeps get sicker and sicker. I know she and Dr. Bay play it off as nothing to worry about. But I know better. I can see that she's not going to get better. It's really only a matter of time before she dies. And when that happens, I know Dr. Bay is going to be terribly sad. He won't want to stay in this house because they've shared it for so long. He'll probably go live with his daughter and son-in-law._ He rolled over onto his side and tucked his hands under his pillow. _What will we do then? Will Luffy and I be able to stay here by ourselves? I know I'm mature enough to handle it, but can I manage with a brother like Luffy around? Will we just go with Dr. Bay? No, Luffy won't leave this place. It's his home. And Shanks comes here a lot. He'll be disappointed with the fact he'll never see that pirate again. I guess we won't have much choice if Grandpa has something to say about this. I know he doesn't like Luffy looking up to Shanks as it is. He'll probably make us leave this place and go with him to become-_ "Ouch! Luffy!"

Law pushed Luffy's foot off his now throbbing face and sat up. Holding his bleeding nose, he growled, "Will you stop sleeping so wildly?!"

"Meat," Luffy mumbled in his sleep.

"You moron!" Law hissed. With his blood free hand, he slipped it under Luffy's body and pushed him off the bed. Ignoring the dull thud of his brother's head hitting the floor, he crawled off the bed and walked towards the door.

"Huh?" Luffy picked himself up off the floor and looked around. "What happened? Law, you're bleeding."

"And it's your fault!" Law snapped before jerking the door open.

"What do you mean?! What did I do?!" Luffy asked.

Law didn't bother to answer. He knew it wouldn't do any good. Luffy never believed him when he told his younger brother about his wild sleeping positions. He had no choice but to let it go and take care of his nose.

"Aw, come on, Law!" Luffy whined.

Law continued to ignore his younger brother as he made his way into the bathroom. Unfortunately, Luffy's hurried footsteps followed closely behind him. Fortunately, Luffy didn't continue to ask him what happened as he stepped up to the toilet. Carefully, Law checked his nose to see if it was broken and cleaned off the blood from his face.

"Is it broken?" Luffy asked, appearing next to Law in the mirror.

"No," Law replied.

"You should be more careful," Luffy said.

Law wanted to argue, he wanted to whack his annoying little brother but remained quiet until Luffy started for the door. He said, "You better wash your hands."

"Why?" Luffy paused halfway out the door.

"Good hygiene is important," Law said.

"Okay," Luffy said.

Law watched the younger boy trudge over to the sink with a pout on his lips. The small stream of water hitting the basin soon followed the creaking of the sink handle. Again his grey eyes noticed all of the differences from himself and Luffy. It seemed like their differences just leapt out at him all the time now.

"Law, are you okay?" Luffy asked, pulling Law from his thoughts.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Law dropped his eyes down to his shirt. He was relieved to find no blood had gotten on his clothes.

"I don't know," Luffy said. "You just seem distracted lately. You're not acting like yourself. Haven't been for a while now. It's starting to worry me."

Law cracked a smile. He was going to make fun of his little brother for saying he was worried. Luffy never worried. But he stopped the thought when he noticed the worried look in his brother's eyes. Luffy really was worried about him. He sighed and faced Luffy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I'm just a bit stressed out is all."

"Is that really it?" Luffy said. He turned off the water and dried his hands on his shirt which elicited a sigh from Law since a hand towel was hanging right there on the wall near the sink for drying your hands.

"Yes, that's all." Law smiled. There was no point in bring up the towel. At least Luffy dried his hands. Usually he let them drip dry while flinging water drops all over the place.

"Well," Luffy drawled. "Okay then. If you say that's all it is."

"It is." Law ruffled up Luffy's hair then started on his own morning route before they headed back to their room to change their clothes. Bacon filled their noses when they were back out in the hall. It made Luffy's stomach grumble pathetically loud and elicited a laugh from the boy. Law just shook his head and stepped into their room. Once they were dressed in clean clothes, the two boys made the familiar trek downstairs where both the adults were waiting with the familiar sounds of eggs being scrambled and bacon sizzling on the hot grease. Both quickly noticed that Dr. Bay was once again cooking while Mrs. Bay sat at the table looking very pale and tired. It broke his heart to see her like that. But he said nothing about how she looked. "Good morning."

"Good morning boys," Mrs. Bay said with a small smile. She straightened up on her chair, trying to look as normal as possible. Law didn't buy it. He could easily see the pain behind the mask. He was just glad Luffy didn't noticed. He wasn't sure how his younger brother would deal with Mrs. Bay being like this, so close to death. He was glad Luffy didn't pay close attention to details like that. "Did you sleep well?"  
"Yes!" Luffy chirped as he plopped down at the table with his usual enthusiasm. He kicked his feet while waiting on their breakfast to be finished and served.

"Yeah," Law said taking his seat in a calmer manor than Luffy.

"You don't sound like you did," Mrs. Bay said. "Did you have another strange dream, Law?"

"No," Law said, forcing himself to sound more cheerful. He didn't want to make the woman worry about him in her current state. "I'm just a little cranky because Luffy kicked me in the face again."

"Hey! I did not!" Luffy protested.

"You did too," Law said, shooting Luffy a glare. "I've lost count of how many times you've kicked me."

"I don't kick in my sleep," Luffy insisted, returning Law's glare with one of his own.

"How would you know that?" Law said. "You're asleep when you do it."

"I just know I don't," Luffy said with an indignant sniff.

"Yeah right," Law grumbled to himself.

"All right, boys," Dr. Bay said with a hearty laugh. He picked the frying pan up off the fire and scraped out the eggs onto the four plates he had sitting out. He then placed two slices of bacon and one toast on the plates, except for Law's, and walked two plates over to the table. He placed them down in front of the boys just as Mrs. Bay poured them some orange juice in their cups. "Settle down now and eat your breakfast."

"Yes, sir," the boys said before picking up their forks.

"So what are you boys doing today?" Mrs. Bay asked a little while later.

"Since we don't have to go to the farm today," Law said. "I'm going to use the time to study."

"Boring! All you every do is study!" Luffy said.

"I want to be a doctor," Law said. "I have to study."

"You're just a kid," Luffy said. "You should be out having fun. Playing pirates, searching for buried treasure…"

"There is no treasure on this island, Luffy," Law said. "Shanks has brainwashed you."

"He has not!" Luffy said. He pulled his feet into his chair and stood up. "I am going to be a pirate! And one day I'm going to be King of the Pirates! You'll see! I'm going to have so much fun!"

"Sure you are," Law said with a chuckle. "You can't even handle a goat. How are you going to handle viscous pirates that are looking to kill opposing pirates?"

"I'll get stronger! My fists are already like two pistols!" Luffy punched the air.

"Yeah, pistols," Law said, rolling his eyes. "That's why you ran from the goat instead of fighting it the other day."

"I just wasn't strong enough!" Luffy said. "You just watch! I'll get stronger! Right, Mrs. Bay? Then I will become King of the Pirates!"

"Yes, you will," Mrs. Bay said with an encouraging smile. "I can't wait to see how great of a pirate you'll become."

"Please, don't encourage him, Mrs. Bay," Law said. He tried not to let her words get to him. But his heart still sank in his chest. She wouldn't be around to see either of them grow up.

Mrs. Bay laughed. "I have to. I want you both to grow up to be strong, dependable men."

"You can't be dependable if you're a pirate," Law said. "They steal things, kill other people, and do nothing else but sail around the seas all the time."

"So?" Luffy asked.

"It's not productive," Law said. "They do nothing but cause trouble."

"No! They go on adventures!" Luffy said.

"You can do that without becoming a pirate," Law said.

Luffy opened his mouth to protest but found he had nothing to say. What Law said was true. He didn't have to become a pirate to have adventures. Grumbling, he sat back down in his chair. "I'm still going to become King of the Pirates. And I'm going to have the best crew ever."

"I'm sure you will," Mrs. Bay said.

"You're going to be so strong," Dr. Bay said.

"Great," Law grumbled while he speared a bit of egg. He shoved it into his mouth. There was just no winning when it came to Luffy.

…

Later that day, Law was in Dr. Bay's office with several textbooks out over the floor. He was laying on his stomach reading and occasionally making notes while the doctor was sitting at his own desk reading a book. Suddenly, the transponder snail sitting on Dr. Bay's deck interrupted the quiet setting of their studying as it rang wildly.

Dr. Bay picked the receiver up. Before he could get a single word out, a very frantic voice started screaming, the snail's facial expression twisted with worry, matching the frantic voice on the other end. "Help! Dr. Bay! S-s-she…ba-ba-ba…the, the ba…"

"Who's that?" Law asked.

"Sounds like Mr. Paxton," Dr. Bay said. "Mr. Paxton, is that you? Calm down, please. I can't understand you."

The voice on the other end stopped talking. If it weren't for the heavy breathing Law would have thought the person hung up. After a few seconds, the voice came back. He said, "Yes! This is Aiden Paxton! My wife has gone into labor! Please! Help! What do I do?! She's in pain!"

"Ah!" Mrs. Paxton's voice came screaming over the transponder snail. It was so low and full of such pain that it made Law jump.

"Geez," Law mumbled to himself. "I'm glad I'm not a woman. I don't want to go through labor. I don't think I'd be able to handle the pain or even watch my wife go through that kind of pain." A sharp, mind numbing pain stabbed into his head just after the words left his mouth. A bluish grey image started to filter into his mind.

 _Law found himself inside of a familiar, yet unfamiliar, room. He was standing in the middle of the room but was also looking at himself sitting on a bed with a young girl. He could tell either of their ages but he knew he wasn't seven years old here. He kneaded his eyebrows. Neither of the people on the bed were moving. And there was some kind of strange white glow surrounding both of them. Deep inside of him the whole scene felt very familiar._

Law blinked. The bluish grey image slowly faded away and the real world around him came back into focus. He placed his hand on his face. "What the heck was that?"

"Yes, Mr. Paxton, I'll be right there," Dr. Bay's voice said. Law looked over at the old man. With the phone call, he didn't even notice the little episode that Law had went through.

"Please! You have to come now!" Mr. Paxton said.

"I know. But I can't if you don't let me get off the transponder snail," Dr. Bay said with patients that came from years of practice. It impressed Law at how calm this man could be through some seriously stressful situations. He hoped he would be like that when he finally became a doctor.

"Oh, right! I'm hanging up! Please! Hurry!" Mr. Paxton's voice said before it was followed by a click of the transponder snail hanging up.

Dr. Bay chuckled and placed the receiver down. "Well, I better get going. Are you coming with me, Law?"

"Yes, I would like to," Law said. "If it's not going to cause any problems."

"It'll be fine," Dr. Bay said. He stood up from his chair and headed over to the door that would take them inside their house. "Mrs. Paxton understands that you're studying to be a doctor. She already said multiple times that it will be fine if you want to come observe the delivery. Though with the pain she's currently in she might not be as nice as she usually is towards you."

"I understand! Let's just go!" Law said. He jumped up to his feet and ran towards the door. He led the way down the hall and into the house. He waited as patiently as he could for Dr. Bay to put on his coat and gab his medical bag before the two headed out of the house. The two hurried alone the road that led into town.

"I bet you can't wait to have kids of your own," Dr. Bay said out of the blue.

"Huh?" Law looked up at him. "Why would I want to have kids? I'm only a kid myself."

"That's true," Dr. Bay said. "But surely someone as smart as you has thought about it by now."

"Not really," Law said. "And considering the little brother that I have, I don't really see myself with kids. I don't think I could handle another child like him."

"I think you'd make a great parent one day," Dr. Bay said.

"No way," Law insisted. "I'm going to focus completely on being a doctor."

"I guess we'll see," Dr. Bay said.

"Why would you ask me something like that anyway?" Law looked up at the old man beside him. He noticed the man's face was full of wrinkles. A lot more wrinkles than he thought the man had before. He thought it might be his imagination, but also noticed the doctor looked a lot more tired than usual. That part was understandable since he was worried about his wife and wasn't getting much sleep himself. Maybe the wrinkles were coming from his worry.

"Oh, I don't know," the doctor said not noticing how Law was starting at him. "I guess just thinking about Mr. and Mrs. Paxton with their baby got me thinking about the future. I know you and Luffy are going to grow up to be fine young men. And, I guess, since the missus and I have been taking care of you for so long…"

 _But you haven't been taking care of us for so long,_ Law thought to himself but he didn't know why.

"I feel like you two boys are my sons," Dr. Bay continued. "Parents can't help but fantasy what their children are going to grow up and be at times."

"I guess you're correct," Law said. He turned his eyes away from the old man and looked in front of him. "But I don't see myself getting married and having a family."

No sooner did Law get the words out of his mouth a flash of light filled his eyes. The world around him faded and was replaced with another world filled with greyish blue colors.

 _Law didn't know where he was. All he knew was he was walking down a long hallway. And he was in a fairly big hurry to get wherever he was going. He also felt sick. Or he thought he felt sick. It felt very different from the past times when he had been sick. It felt like someone else was being sick and he just knew or felt they were and was trying to get to them. Then, with a single blink of his eyes, he was inside of another room. Sitting on a couch with a familiar, yet unfamiliar blue haired woman sitting in his lap._

" _Uh huh. I'm worried about them. That nightmare just won't leave my mind," the woman had said. "Law, I want to go home."_

 _Law stared at the woman. Something was keeping his face obstructed from his view. He had no idea who she was or why he couldn't see her. He hated it. He hated not being able to see her. He hated that he hated it. And he hated that he didn't know what the heck was going on. Still, for some reason, he comforted her. He said, "I know you do."_

 _"Then take me home! We're not doing anything here! So let's just leave!" the woman snapped. She lifted off his shoulder and glared at him despite him being unable to see it, he could easily feel it. This woman wasn't happy with him. But why? What did he do wrong? And why weren't they home in the first place? Where were they? He kneaded his eyebrows in surprise and confusion. It wasn't like her to snap at him like that. Or he didn't think it was. He then sensed her snappy mood being replaced by her own confusion. She had realized what she had done. And apparently knew she didn't do it often. She rubbed her hand over her forehead in frustration. "Oh, geez. I'm so sorry, Law. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I'm just…I don't know. I'm just not feeling like myself right now. I'm upset. I'm homesick. I'm missing the crew like crazy. I'm so, so sorry."_

 _"It's fine," Law said._

 _"No, it's not fine. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," she insisted._

 _"Neo, love, it really is fine. We've been here for months."_

Months? _Law wondered to himself. Where would they have gone for months? What were they doing here? Where was this place?_

" _It's natural that you're upset and just want to go home. Being away from what you're familiar with for so long was bound to take it's told on you at some point. You're not use to it after all," Law explained to her. He then found himself pressing his lips to her forehead, finding her to be rather warm to the touch. She was getting sick. Probably why she was being so snappy. "You're very warm. You really haven't been feeling good all day too."_

 _"I'm getting sick? Is that why I'm so snappy?" she asked, laying her head back down on his shoulder with a tired sigh._

 _"It probably is. Constantly playing outside in the snow, crossing between the boarders of the icy and fire sides of this island didn't help things either. You were bound to get sick at some point," Law said with a kiss to her forehead. Borders of fire and ice? He's never heard of an island like that. Where the heck are they? Or these two people or whoever they were._

 _"I'm a bit sleepy," she said. She then covered a yawn and snuggled closer into him._

 _"Then you should sleep," Law said as she started to drift off. It all felt so familiar to him. But why? He was only a child, seven years old. These two people were obviously a lot older than seven years old._

 _"Will you…stay with me?" she asked, just before falling asleep._

 _"Of course I will," Law whispered softly to her sleeping form. He tightened his hold on her, pressing his cheek to her forehead and relaxed as she slept._

Law blinked. The image and people were gone and he was back on the road walking with Dr. Bay. "Are you all right?"

Law didn't answer.

"Law?" Dr. Bay said.

Law jumped when a hand found itself on his shoulder.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Dr. Bay said. "You just seemed really out of it all of a sudden."

"Sorry," Law said. "My mind just…wondered a bit."

"I see," Dr. Bay said. But Law could tell the doctor didn't buy his words at all. Still the doctor didn't push him to talk. That was one thing he really liked about this man. If he didn't want to talk, Dr. Bay wouldn't force him or Luffy to do it.

Soon houses replaced the trees. And the one house they were aiming for came into sight. It was a small house, one story, trimmed in light green. A sleeping dog was lying on the porch. It only moved, completely startled, when Mr. Paxton bolted out the screen door.

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" the expectant father chanted. He waved his hand at the two approaching the house as if it would make them walk faster. "Please! Hurry!"

"Yes, of course," Dr. Bay said despite never increasing his gate.

Law noticed that the doctor was very calm. He knew age and practice was the reason for this. But so was the pregnancy itself. Dr. Bay had kept him informed of Mrs. Paxton's pregnancy. Everything was normal and fine so there was no need to rush. However, he did know that complications could settle in once the baby was being born. Still he knew there was nothing to worry about. Dr. Bay was experienced in his and he was here to learn from the doctor. It was getting him excited. He loved learning all that he could. It would help him decide the kind of doctor he really wanted to be. Calmly he followed the doctor and Mr. Paxton through the living room and into the bedroom at the back of the house. Just as they entered into the room, Mrs. Paxton released a blood curdling scream and made both him and Mr. Paxton jump. She said, "I'm going to kill you for doing this to me! It's all your fault! You will pay!"

Law grabbed his chest with both of his hands as he watched the monster like woman before him. It felt like his heart was about to pop out of his chest. The scream gave him second thoughts at being inside of this house. She didn't seem like the nice lady he had come to know. Was this woman still in control of her actions? She wasn't going to try and hurt them in anyway, right? She was just anger at her husband from the pain, wasn't she?

"All right, Mrs. Paxton," Dr. Bay said. The older man moved farther into the room and sat down on the bed, completely unafraid at her or her outburst. "Let's all just calm down. We're going to have a baby here soon."

"It hurts!" Mrs. Paxton said through labored breaths. "Take it out right now!"

"I can't do that," Dr. Bay said. "The baby will come when he or she is ready."

"Well, I'm ready now!" Mrs. Paxton said.

Law stayed back as his heart continued to come down to its normal rate. He watched the sweaty woman as her breathing slowly came back down to normal and she started to look more like the woman he's always known. Considering how worn out the woman already looked, he knew that childbirth wasn't an easy thing to handle. It made him glad, once again, that he wasn't going to have a child. Instantly the thought made him feel sad and empty.

"Law, could you get a basin and fill it with hot water?" Dr. Bay asked as he rolled up his sleeves. "And, Mr. Paxton, please get us some clean towels."

"Right!" Mr. Paxton squeaked ear piercingly high before bolting from the room.

"Of course," Law said, knowing the man just wanted him out of the room for a few minutes. He rubbed his ears while he left the room and made his way into the kitchen. While wondering through the house he couldn't help but noticed how baby proof it already was. Things that could topple over were tied down, cabinets were tied closed with sturdy strings, sharp edges were covered in padding, and several others things like that. He thought they were jumping the gun a little bit here. The baby wasn't even born yet and it certainly couldn't crawl or walk yet. He shook his head and entered into the kitchen. He untied the rope to the cabinet he assumed held a basin. Sure enough when he opened the door there it was. His mind kept going over his current situation while he placed the basin in the sink and turned on the water. These two, or probably just Mr. Paxton, was really over protective. For whatever reason, it made him wonder how he would be as a father.

"I got the towels! I got the towels!" Mr. Paxton's frantic voice said as it mixed with his thundering footsteps across the living room floor. The noise was quickly followed by a loud, hard thud. Law instantly knew the man had fallen, probably tripped over his own feet. "I'm okay! And the towels are safe!" More thundering of feet follow before disappearing into the bedroom.

 _IF_ he ever did have kids, he hoped he never acted like Mr. Paxton. He knew it was their first child, but panicking like that wouldn't help his pregnant wife. He wondered if all men, or how many, were like that. He figured it probably depended on the relationship itself. The closer you were to someone the more worried you would be about them, especially if they were in pain. _In pain,_ Law thought to himself. _Why does that stand out to me? I'm a boy. There's no possible way for men to have children. I won't ever experience this type of pain. Or will I? I've heard that some men do experience sympathy pains, but no way it's as bad as the actual thing._ He sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't stop himself from dwelling on this.

He reached up to sink and shut off the water. Picking up the basin, he carried it back into the bedroom just as Mrs. Paxton started going through another contraction. He placed the basin down on a chair, which he didn't remember seeing the first time he entered, and took a few steps away from the bed to observe. Carefully, he watched and listened to Dr. Bay checking the woman's vitals, her dilation, and speaking calmly when he felt like she needed it. It felt like hours of nothing but screaming and him going back and forth to the kitchen to reheat the water, in fact it was. Six hours later, the baby was finally making its way into the world of the living. He watched patient, thanking God above that he didn't have a weak stomach for all the blood and other liquids that were coming out of Mrs. Paxton's body. Being a doctor was a messy business. Still, it didn't deter him in the slightest. He knew being a doctor was what he was meant to be. His dad was his inspiration, if he could ever figure out who his dad was.

Law was snapped from his thoughts when the baby took its first cries. Excitement filled his body. He lifted his eyes up to the baby. A strange feeling washed over him. He became lightheaded and felt like he couldn't breath. He shook his head, thinking maybe it was just all of the excitement of the situation. This was the first time he's seen a baby being born. But it did no good. He still couldn't breath all that well and he was still dizzy.

" _That's…that's our baby," a voice said._ A voice that wasn't Mr. or Mrs. Paxton. The world around Law disappeared. He could hear and feel people around him, but couldn't tell who they were since he couldn't see them.

" _It is," a man said._

 _"What is it?" a woman asked. "Are we having a boy or a girl?"_

 _"Unfortunately, we can't tell at this point," the man said._

 _"You should be able to sense it soon," another, older woman said._

 _"What do you mean?" the man asked. Law felt like he was looking over his shoulder at someone. And judging from the places of the voices, it was the second woman he was looking at. "How can she sense it?"  
"She'll just be able to," the older woman said. "We don't really put much into finding out about the baby's gender through our crystals because the mother is usually correct about the sex. Only about five percent of the time does a mother get it wrong."_

 _"I guess I haven't gotten that far in the books yet," he said._

 _"It's really not that big of a deal," the older woman said. Law felt their attention shifting back to the first woman who spoke. It excited him to have his attention back on her even if he couldn't see her. "Most Elementals don't really care if they have a boy or a girl as long as their baby is healthy. So no one really ever asks to know the sex of their baby."_

 _"Law," the younger woman said. He then felt a gentle touch on his wrist. "That's our baby. That's really our baby."_

 _"Yes, love," he said. He then felt himself moving something around. It was like a small stick of some kind. "That's our baby." But he didn't have a baby. He wasn't even old enough to be dating. This was a dream. It had to be._

 _"Our baby's so tiny," the young woman said. Law's vision cleared up a bit. He could see the shadowed outline of a hand reaching for something, tracing ever so gently over whatever she was touching. "And that's really…our baby is really inside of me. Growing every second. It's weird. I want to hold our baby and, yet I'm terrified of thinking about holding our baby. I'm scared, Law. Law…Law…Law? Law, are you all right? Law, can you hear me?"_

"Law…Law?"

Law blinked in confusion when the young woman's voice mixed with Dr. Bay's voice. He looked around and noticed a silhouette of someone standing over him. After a few seconds, the silhouette faded into Dr. Bay.

"Good. I'm glad you're awake now," Dr. Bay said, his face filling with relief.

"What happened?" Law asked as he slowly sat up with the doctor's help.

"That's what I'd like to know," Dr. Bay said. "You were fine then all of a sudden you just hit the floor."

"I guess some people just can't handle childbirth," Mr. Paxton said.

Law glanced over at the man with a glare. That was a ridiculous thing to say when he, Mr. Paxton, was acting the way he was. But the glare went to waste. The older man was looking down at his baby that was now clean, wrapped in a blue blanket, and firmly tucked into Mrs. Paxton's arms. He released his frustration with the man, he just looked so happy to have his baby here. There wasn't any point to it anyway. This should be a happy day for the couple. "So how's the baby?"

"He's just fine," Dr. Bay said. "A healthy seven point two five pounds and nineteen and a half inches long."

"That's good to hear," Law said. "I'm glad your baby is finally here. And congratulations."

"Thank you, Law," Mrs. Paxton said, not taking her eyes from her baby.

"We should go," Dr. Bay said.

Law nodded. He then picked himself up off the ground and followed the old man out of the house. He felt a lot better when the salty sea air hit his features and from the familiar sounds of the villagers talking. He felt more grounded now with all this familiarity surrounding him. His mind seemed to clear up more from his bizarre dream or vision he had. He wasn't sure what it was. But he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever it was was actually real. Something about it felt all too familiar for it to have been just a dream. He stopped walking, staring down at the dirt at his feet while Dr. Bay continued on walking. "Dr. Bay?"

"Hm?" Dr. Bay turned around and looked at the young man. "What is it, Law?"  
Law looked up at the old man. He opened his mouth to tell him everything, but quickly closed it. This was ludicrous. There's no possible way his dreams, or visions, were from a former life. "Nothing. Never mind.

"Law," Dr. Bay said before Law could take a single step. "I think we need to talk."

"About what?" Law asked.

"About what's been on your mind lately," Dr. Bay said. "I know there's something going on in that head of yours. And you're not doing yourself any favors by keeping it in. I know you're not one to talk and tell others how you're feeling, but this is clearly bothering you to the point of passing out."

"I passed out," Law murmured.

"You did." Dr. Bay nodded. "And I know it wasn't from the sight of the baby being born. You have too strong of a stomach for that to happen." He paused for a second. "So, shall we find a nice quiet space to talk for a while?"

Law thought about the man's words for a moment. He debated over the options of keeping quiet or talking about it while the sounds from the world around him faded. While he didn't want to talk about it, there was also the fact that talking about it could make it better. Maybe this was just a bad dream and all he had to do was talk about it and it would go away. He gave in. "All right. There is something I should probably talk about."

"Let's go down to the beach then," Dr. Bay suggested.

Law nodded. Without another word passing between the two, they made their way through the small down and down to the beach. Law pulled off his shoes and sat down on the warm sand while Dr. Bay just sat down. For a long while, neither of them spoke. Both just remanded staring out at the sea, listening to the waves rolling back and forth onto the sand. Then he asked, "Dr. Bay, what are your thoughts on former lives?"

"Huh?"

Law instantly heard surprise in the doctor's voice. "I just want to know what you think about them. Do you think it's possible that people can live multiple lives?"

"Uh, can't say that I believe that's possible," Dr. Bay said. "But then I never really put much thought into it before. Why do you ask?"

Law paused again. For several minutes he continued to stare out at the water. Once he had gathered his thoughts, and his courage, he finally told the old man what was going on inside of his head. "Well, here's the thing. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I keep having these dreams or visions about this blue haired girl."

"Okay, that seems normal enough," Dr. Bay said. "Continue."

"But I think they're from a former life," Law said.

"Is that what happened in the Paxton house?" Dr. Bay asked gently.

"Yeah." Law nodded. "I couldn't see them, but I was in a room with two women. One was older and the other was younger. We were talking about our baby. The baby belonged to the younger woman and me. But I'm not married and I don't know who the woman even is. The baby wasn't born either. It was still inside of her womb. She asked me what it was, a boy or a girl. It was too soon to tell."

"I see," Dr. Bay said.

"I know it seems very weird, but they seem so real," Law said.

"Is that all?" Dr. Bay asked when Law paused.

"No," Law said. He gave a quick version of his other visions then added, "I've also been noticing that, despite being twins, Luffy and I are nothing alike. I know we could be fraternal twins but I really don't think we're related at all. I have no clue who are parents are. And I have no idea how I really came to have my Devil Fruit too. I don't remember eating it, finding it, or even if I wanted a Devil Fruit in the first place."

"I see," Dr. Bay said.

The two then fell quiet. Only the sounds of seagulls, the rolling waves, and the distance voices of the town could be heard between them. Law was scared. He was scared that his secret of what's been happening to him would cause Dr. Bay to look at him in a strange light now. He was scared that he had just gotten himself and Luffy kicked out of their home. But a small part of him was still glad he told someone about what was going on in his head.

"Well," Dr. Bay then said.

Law's heart jumped into his throat. He swallowed, punishing the lump back down. His veins thundered with anticipation at what the old man was going to say now.

"I have to agree with you on the thought that you and Luffy might not be related," Dr. Bay said, shocking Law.  
"What do you mean?" Law asked, whipping his steel eyes to the man.

"Well, I've delivered many babies in my life," Dr. Bay said. "I've seen plenty of twins grow up. But you and Luffy are by far the first ones I've seen that have nothing in common. Usually families, of blood, often have similarities to at least one other person. You and Luffy share absolutely none. And I too have memory lapses. I remember Luffy being born, but I don't remember you being born at the time."

"You delivered Luffy?" Law said. "I didn't know that."

"I did." Dr. Bay said. "Me nor the Missus said anything about it because we didn't want to upset you. We didn't want you to feel like you were nothing or a lost soul or something like that. We wanted to show you that you were just as loved as Luffy was."

"Then where did I come from?" Law asked. "Was I dropped off at this island? Abandoned by my real family?"

"No," Dr. Bay said. "You were not abandoned by anyone. It's not been reported that you were or that you were found here. You're just here."

"Then who am I?" Law asked. "Why am I here? Where's my real family? Who's that girl I keep seeing? Are they really visions of my real life?"

"I can't answer anything," Dr. Bay said. "I'm sorry. But there's a possibility that you might never get answers to your questions."

"I know," Law said. His eyes dropped to the warm, golden sand between his legs. There were a lot of things in this world that didn't have answers. And this was probably going to be one of those things. The soft wind burned the tears that he didn't notice gathering in his eyes. He brushed them away as quickly as he could in hopes the doctor didn't see him cry. He hated showing weakness.

"But whatever happened we'll always love you like you were our own son," Dr. Bay said. "And I know Luffy will love you always."

"Yeah," Law said, feeling like that wasn't as a good thing that the doctor made it sound like it would be.

"I also believe that you might already have some of the answers you're looking for," Dr. Bay said.

"What do you mean?" Law asked, turning his eyes back to the doctor.

"Our feelings can be very strong and very powerful," Dr. Bay said. "They can save us in times of danger. And if you feel so strongly about these visions you're having, then there must be some truth to them. I don't know if they're visions from a former life, since I don't believe those are possible, but something is obviously going on. Trust your feelings. Look for more clues in your visions. The answers you seek might be inside of them."

"But what if I don't like what I learn?" Law asked.

"There's only one way to tell for sure," Dr. Bay said. "Did you feel scared when you had these visions?"  
"A little bit because I have no clue what's really happening with them," Law said.

"And the girl you keep seeing?" Dr. Bay asked.

"I'm not really sure," Law said. "I feel…"

"Yes?" Dr. Bay coaxed.

"I feel like I definitely know her from somewhere," Law said. "And I think…I think I feel like I need to protect her. But I'm not sure from what or who or even why. It's just a feeling I have."

"And you should listen to those feelings, especially if they are as strong as you make them appear to be," Dr. Bay said.

"But was if I'm wrong?" Law asked.

"You'll only know that when the time comes," Dr. Bay said. "For now, why don't you start writing down everything you see and hear about in your visions? It might help you piece things together and find out if these visions are real or not."

"That might be a good idea," Law said. "At the very least, I can get them out of my head and on paper. That could help calm me down a bit when I have them."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Dr. Bay said with a nod. "Oh, look the sun's starting to go down. We should probably head back home now. Don't want the missus to get worried about us, now do we?"

"Yeah." Law nodded. "Luffy's probably bugging her and asking her when we're going to be home finally." He stood up and offered his hand to the doctor.

"Oh, thank you, son," Dr. Bay said. He took the young boy's hand and stood up. "These old bones just aren't what they use to be."

Law nodded. The two then brushed the sand off their pants before heading back to the house. It was a quiet walk back. The two only spoke occasionally when one else spoke to them in a greeting. But then their peaceful walk was interrupted by Luffy's panicking wails. "What's wrong with him now?"

"Luffy, what is it?" Dr. Bay asked when the young boy ran up to him and grabbed his shirt.

Luffy's face was dripping with tears and snot when he looked up at the man. He opened his mouth to speak but only incoherent rambles came out.

"Luffy! Take a deep breath!" Law ordered. "We can't understand you!"

Luffy drew in the longest and loudest breath he could before releasing it just as loudly and long. He then said, "It's Mrs. Bay!"

"What?!" Law and Dr. Bay gasped.

"She…she's hurt!" Luffy wailed. "I tried to stop her! But she wouldn't listen!"

"What happened, Luffy?!" Law asked.

"She was cooking!" Luffy said. "I tried * _hiccup*_ to stop her! She c-c-collapsed and can't get up! Her * _hiccup*_ face is all red and…and she's having trouble breathing! I'm sorry!"

Dr. Bay didn't say anything. He just pushed Luffy off of him and ran towards the house as quickly as his old legs could carry him.

Law grabbed Luffy's hand. With him still crying, he had to guide his younger brother back to the house. Their crunching footsteps were distance in his ears until they faded away all together. He could see their house, but it seemed they didn't get closer to it. His heart was pounding in his chest so hard he thought he was going to be sick. _Hold on, Mrs. Bay! You can't die! You just can't! Not now!_

Soon, but not soon enough for the boys, they finally reached the house. Dr. Bay was kneeling on the floor beside him wife who now had a little blood dripping down her chin. Luffy's cries reached Law's ears, but quickly faded away. He couldn't believe this was happening, even though he knew she was sick with an unknown, incurable disease. This had really brought the fact home that they were really going to lose Mrs. Bay. His eyes drifted up from Mrs. Bay's body and to Dr. Bay's face.

Dr. Bay's face was white. His own eyes were filled with tears. Law saw the old man move his lips but couldn't make out what he was saying. He watched as Mrs. Bay's hand appeared on her husband's face. And he watched as Mrs. Bay's hand fell from Dr. Bay's face, never to move again.

…

The night was oddly quiet. It seemed like the island itself was mourning the loss of Mrs. Bay. The boys were currently on their bed, dressed and ready for bed, but neither willing to get up and shut the light off. Law was sitting up with an empty book sitting on his lap. The book he was going to use to write down his visions in. His eyes fell to the boy beside him. Luffy's back was to him, but he knew Luffy was still crying. It had took him over two hours to calm Luffy down before. Luffy was so panicked and freaked out that he had done something wrong when Mrs. Bay died. Both he and Dr. Bay assured him that he did nothing wrong, that it was just time for Mrs. Bay to leave them.

They all were crushed, even though they knew it was going to happen sooner or later. They all just wished they had more time with her. But it was over. She was gone. And would be buried in just a couple days.

Soon soft snores found their way to Law's ears. Luffy had finally fallen asleep. He was glad. He was glad that Luffy was finally resting. Now if only he could sleep. But he knew he wasn't going to get much, if he got any, sleep tonight. So he opened his book. Grabbing his pencil he started scribbling inside of the book. Though his first words in the book weren't about his visions. They were about Mrs. Bay. He wrote down everything he could about her in hopes to always keep the book and remember everything he could about her. The last thing he wrote was this day, the day she died before he started writing down every single detail he could remember about his visions as he tried not to think about what Dr. Bay was going to do now. But, in the back of his head, one question kept spinning around in his mind.

Where were he and Luffy going to live now?


	3. Shanks

Shanks

Law woke up that night with the need to use the facilities. Pushing Luffy's legs off his own, he slipped to the edge of the bed and stood up. The wooden floor was oddly cold on his skin. But then the house has been cold since Mrs. Bay died. And the house had been quieter, even with Luffy around. It was easy for him to tell that they all were missing Mrs. Bay, especially Dr. Bay. The old man wasn't himself anymore as he hardly ever talked and usually held up in his office while Law and Luffy went about their daily routine. Law had taken up the responsibility for cooking and keeping things clean.

Stepping out into the hall, he noticed the light was still on downstairs despite it being passed one o'clock in the morning. Slipping down the stairs, he found that the room was empty. Then he heard a soft voice down the hall that led to the doctor's office. The voice got a little bit louder when he got to the partially open door. Standing behind it, he listened in to the conversation going on inside.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Bay was saying. "I just can't do this anymore."

"It's no problem." Law's heart thumped against his chest when he heard their grandpa's voice. Dr. Bay was talking to his grandfather on the transponder snail. "I can understand. What will you do now?"  
"I have some family over on Rams Island," Dr. Bay said. "I'll be going there."

"I see," Garp said.

"When will you be here for the boys?" Dr. Bay asked.

"In a few days," Garp said. He went on to say more but Law rushed away from the door and back up the stairs. He didn't want to hear anymore. He had figured this would happen, but part of him didn't want to believe it actually would. He loved Dr. Bay. The man was teaching him to be a doctor. Who would do that now? Where was their grandpa doing to be taking them? To some marine base or family that will influence them to be marines like their grandpa wanted? Or was there someone else on this island that their grandpa would let them stay with? He didn't know.

After relieving himself, he washed his hands and headed back to his and Luffy's room. He paused to stare at Luffy. Worry flooded into his mind. How was Luffy going to take this? Should he tell him about it? Or should he wait until their grandpa got here so he could tell Luffy about what was going on? He knew it would upset Luffy to be taken away from here. His brother would no longer be able to see Shanks.

Grabbing the blanket that Luffy had kicked off himself, he pulled it back over his brother and then climbed back into bed. Flicking on his lamp, he opened his book and stared at the entries within it. Maybe if they did leave here he could speak to some other doctors about his visions. It could be possible that there's a specialist that could tell him why he kept seeing these things in his head.

With a defeated sigh, Law laid the book down, turned off the light, and tucked himself back under the covers. While staring at the book in the moonlit room, he let himself drift off to see.

…

"Hey! Law!" Luffy cried out.

Law groaned when Luffy started to shake him.

"Get up! It's breakfast time and I'm hungry!" Luffy whined.

"Then go get yourself something," Law replied, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

"I don't know how to cook!" Luffy said.

"Then learn!" Law snapped. "I'm tired."

"Get up!" Luffy said, shoving Law more. "Get up! Get up! Get up!"

"All right!" Law shot up, pushing Luffy off the bed. The boy landed with a loud thump. "I'm up!"

"Finally!" Luffy said as if he didn't even realize he had been shoved off the bed.

Law ran a hand through his messy hair, messing it up more while he headed to the bathroom. He blocked out Luffy's whining and went through his morning routine at his own pace before heading downstairs. He paused momentarily, noting that Dr. Bay wasn't anywhere to be seen before stepping over to the fridge. Pulling out the bacon and eggs, he sat them on the counter then dug through the cabinets for the correct dishes. Soon the bacon and eggs were sizzling in their pans. Behind him, Luffy was already sitting at the table complaining about being hungry, which he ignored. His mind was on Dr. Bay and the conversation he had heard last night with their grandpa. The question of should he tell Luffy about it popped in his head just before an image of the girl popped into his head. She was standing at a stove with a man in a beige colors boiler suit and a black and white hat with an oddly familiar looking logo on the breast of his suit.

 _"This is so good," the man said._

 _"Thanks," the girl said. "I'm trying some new spices that I found on the last island. Do you think the crew will like it?"_

 _"Of course they will," he said. "The crew loves anything that you cook for them, especially the captain."_

 _The girl's smiled grew brighter._

Law winced at the pain stabbing into his head. He stumbled off the stool he was standing on before dropping to his knees. "Ah!"

"Law?" Luffy jumped of his chair and ran over to his brother. "Law, what's wrong?"  
"Another vision," Law said, his breathing started to slow as the images disappeared. "It's almost gone."

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah." Law nodded. "These visions are just starting to-" He looked up to find Luffy had moved over to the stove. "Hey! You're not even listening to me!"

"Are these done yet?" Luffy asked.

Sighing, Law pushed himself off the floor then shoved Luffy away from the stove so he could continue with their breakfast.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered when Law sat the food down on the table. He immediately dug in. "So yummy!"

Law mindlessly poked his fork into his eggs. He took a bite just as Dr. Bay stepped into their kitchen from his room. The old man looked like he hadn't slept since his wife died, probably didn't since there were dark bags under his eyes. "Good morning, Dr. Bay."

"Morning," Dr. Bay said as he headed for the door without looking at the boys.

"Are you going to eat?" Law said, despite knowing the answer.

"No, I'm not hungry." Dr. Bay put on his hat and coat and left without another word.

"Can I have his then?" Luffy asked.

Law shoved the remaining eggs and bacon over to his brother.

"Yeah!" Luffy dug into them happily. Once finished, he jumped from his chair and ran towards the door. "I'm going to see if Shanks is coming!"

"Room! Shambles!" Law warped Luffy over to the sink then walked over with the dishes in his hands. "No, you are not. You are going to help me with the dishes then we're going to go do our jobs."

"Aw," Luffy whined. "But I want to go see if Shanks is here yet."

"You're not going anywhere until the dishes and our jobs are done," Law said, dropping the plates into the sink. "Now, get to it."

"Fine," Luffy grumbled. He pulled himself up off the floor and stepped upon the stool. He washed the dishes while Law dried them and put them away.

The two brothers then headed out after Law went back upstairs to get his book. Shoving it into a bag, he went back down stairs then left the house with Luffy and wondered down the road that led to the Barton Farm. While walking, he scribbled into his book what his vision was about then put it back into the bag just as they reached the farm. Slipping the bag back on his shoulders, he set out to do his job while Luffy instantly started to annoy the chickens and goats. "Hey! If you anger those goats again I'm _not_ going to save you this time!"

"I'm not going to anger them!" Luffy said.

Law rolled his eyes and stepped into the barn. The dust kicked up with each step he took. The barn was warmed from the sun and the animals were ready for their breakfast. First, he led the horses out into the paddock so he could clean their stalls and let them get some exercise for the day. It didn't take long, maybe fifteen minutes, before he heard Luffy's voice crying out for help. Angry bellows of the old billy goat soon followed. He shook his head. This time he was going to hold to his word and not help Luffy. And he did. He went on about his work. Eventually, he stepped back out of the barn to head for the chicken house. A chuckle escaped his lips when he saw Luffy hanging from the exact same tree as the last time this happened.

"Get away from me, you stupid old goat!" Luffy said while waving his hand as if he was trying to swoon away a fly. "Law! Help me!"

"Not going to happen," Law said. He entered into the chicken house. Glancing around he found that the floor needed to be scooped out. Not really feeling like doing that himself, he headed back outside. With his hands on his hips, he looked at the goat ramming the tree before looking up at Luffy. "I'll help you _this time_ if you clean out the chicken house."

"What?! I don't want to clean that thing!" Luffy said.

"Fine." Law shrugged. "Stay up there all day then."

"No! Wait! I'll do it! I'll do it!" Luffy said.

"Room. Shambles."

Luffy disappeared from the tree and landed in front of the chicken house.

"And I expect you to have it clean within an hour," Law said.

"An hour?!" Luffy said. "That's not possible!"

"It is if you actually _work_ at it instead of play," Law said. "If it's not done in one hour I'm putting you back up in the tree and letting the goat have at you."

"Fine," Luffy grumbled. Standing up, he headed off towards the barn to get the wheelbarrow.

Law waited to make sure that Luffy was actually going to be coming back. When Luffy did, he turned and headed off to check on the other animals. Much to his surprised, when he got back to the chicken house Luffy had it all clean out and had fresh dirt and hay inside. "Not bad."

"Maybe for you," Luffy said, feathers sticking out of his hair while he held a basket full of eggs in his hand. "I hate those chickens as much as I hate that goat."

"They wouldn't attack you if you didn't annoy them," Law said.

"Yeah, right," Luffy said.

"Go put those up," Law said. "We have more work to do."

"I know, I know," Luffy said while he trudged past Law.

…

"Can we go into town now?" Luffy asked.

"I suppose it's all right," Law said while putting up the last bit of vegetables they brought home. He paused. He was putting up vegetables that they weren't going to need any more. They would have to give them to someone. Or perhaps Dr. Bay would just take them with him. After all, the old man would need food on his trip. And their grandpa would have food for them on the Navy ship he would be coming on to pick them up.

"You coming?" Luffy asked, cutting into Law's thoughts.

"Yeah." Law closed the door to the onion bin and stood up. Quietly, he followed after Luffy. While Luffy skipped happily down the road towards the town, Law looked around, wondering where Dr. Bay could have possibly went. He could only assume that the doctor was making rounds to inform his patients that he was leaving the island. Once again he wondered if he should tell Luffy about it since Dr. Bay hasn't brought it up. His eyes drifted to his brother before looking down the road to see a ship pulling into the docks from between the buildings. If he did tell Luffy about it, his rambunctious brother might take off with Shanks. That wouldn't be good. He was fairly sure that Shanks wouldn't let a kid on his ship but that wouldn't stop Luffy from stowing away. He figured it was best to tell Luffy after Shanks had come and gone.

"Good afternoon, boys."

"Huh?" Law looked over to the person who called to him. It was Mrs. Paxton. "Hey, how's it going?" He then noticed the carriage she was holding on to. "Is that the baby?"

"It sure is," Mrs. Paxton said.

Law walked over and peaked inside. The baby was just waking up from a nap. "He looks really healthy."

"He is," Mrs. Paxton said. "And we've decided to name him Bay."

"After Dr. Bay?" Law looked up at her.

"That's right." She nodded. "He's been a very important part of our lives. I'm sad to hear that he's leaving us."

Law's eyes widened. He whipped his eyes to Luffy, preparing him to the fit his brother was going to through. But Luffy was no where to be seen. "Ack! Where did he go?!"

"He must have went on ahead," Mrs. Paxton said. "Shanks and his crew arrived about an hour ago."

"Oh," Law said. "Then that's where he'll be."

"It must be hard on you two. First losing Mrs. Bay and now Dr. Bay is leaving," Mrs. Paxton said.

"I guess it kind of is. But Luffy doesn't know," Law said.

"He doesn't?"

"No." Law shook his head. "I only know because I overheard Dr. Bay talking to our grandpa."

"Does that mean you'll be leaving too?"

"I don't know." Law shrugged.

"Well, you two have a home here if you need a place to stay," Mrs. Paxton said.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Law said just as the baby started fussing.

"Okay, Bay. We're going inside. Please, excuse us. I have to feed the baby," Mrs. Paxton said.

"Sure thing," Law said. He watched her disappeared into the house. His eyes then scanned over the building. It was way too small for them to move into it. Besides, they had a new baby to take care off. They didn't need two other kids, one of which that was hard to handle at times.

Shoving his hand into his pockets, he headed on towards the town. He wondered if Shanks and his crew would be at the tavern or at their ship. Since he'd pass the tavern first he decided to pop in and see if they were there before heading on down to the docks. Laughter was the first thing to greet him when he walked up to the bar. He entered and found none of the Red Haired Pirates.

"If you're looking for Luffy, he's down at the docks with Shanks," Makino said.

"Thanks, Makino. I figured that's where he'd be since they're not here," Law said. He waved to the woman then headed back outside. Light chattered of some townspeople was the only thing that accompanied him on his walk. Then the sound of laughter coming from the docks made him look up. Luffy was standing on the figurehead of the Red Haired Pirates' ship. "What is he doing?"

"I am brave!" Luffy shouted. "And I can proved it!"

"Hey! Don't do that, kid! What are you stupid?!" Shanks shouted.

Law's eyebrow drew together in wonder of what Luffy was doing. He dashed down the stairs and climbed up the rope ladder that was on the side of the ship. His feet landed on the deck with a thud.

"Oh, Law, there you are," Lucky Roo said.

"What did my idiot brother do this time?" Law asked.

"Stabbed himself in the face with a knife," the pirate replied.

Law smacked himself with a groan then marched towards Luffy who was now standing near Shanks and another pirate. He grabbed his brother's wrist and pulled him towards him to look at the cut. "What the heck were you thinking?!"

"I wanted to prove to them that I am brave and strong," Luffy said, blood dripping down his cheek.

"You don't do that by stabbing yourself, you idiot!" Law looked over the cut now under Luffy's left eye. "Just another half of an inch up and you could have blinded yourself!"

"So? I have another eye," Luffy said.

"You're so stupid!" Law snapped. "I need to take care of this."

"I was just getting to that," the pirate next to Shanks said.

"Oh, that's right. You're the doctor on this ship," Law said. "Ross, right?"

"That's right." Ross nodded. "Now, if he'll sit back down I'll take care of that."

"Sit!" Law pushed Luffy down to the deck floor.

"Ouch! You don't have to shove me!" Luffy whined.

"Yes, I do!" Law crossed his arms over his chest. "Grandpa is not going to be happy with what you did."

"I don't care!" Luffy said as the doctor started cleaning the wound. "It shows that I'm strong and brave!"

"It shows that you're stupid," Law said. He glanced over at Shanks when the man started laughing. "What?"  
"It's hard to believe that you two are related. You're as different as night and day," Shanks said.

"If only you knew," Law mumbled.

"Well, let's get to the Party Bar and have some drinks!" Shanks said. "My throat is as dry as a desert!"

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered.

"Hold still," Ross said, dabbing disinfectant on Luffy's cut before placing a bandage over it. "There. All done now."

"Let's go!" Luffy jumped up and ran to the rope ladder.

Sighing, Law followed after his brother. As soon as they were all on the deck then went into the town and directly to Party's Bar. He paused and looked down the street towards their home. He couldn't help but wonder where Dr. Bay was and how the old man was doing. And against his better judgment, he entered into the tavern. The pirates already had their first round of drinks in their hands. Luffy was sitting at the bar with Shanks. So he hopped upon the stool next to his brother.

"Would you like some juice, Law?" Makino asked.

"Sure," Law said.

Makino walked way for a moment before coming back with a glass of juice for him.

"Thanks, Makino." Law dug into his pocket for money.

"This is on the house," Makino said. "You know you don't have to pay for your drinks here."

"That's nice of you," Law said.

Makino winked at him before heading off to fill requests of the pirates.

The joyous laughter of the pirates and the clunking of their mugs faded away from Law as his mind took him back to their current problem. He knew that their grandpa would arrive soon. But what would the old man do with them? Would he take them with him? Would he place them in the care of another? The loud shouts of his brother tried to break into his thoughts, but he refused to listen. He knew it was just the same old thing. Luffy was talking about becoming a pirate and Shanks would joke with him or make fun of him. Then the sound of breaking glasses pulled Law back to the present. Turning around he found several other men were in the tavern with them.

"We're thirsty," one man with black hair said. "We'll take ten barrels of sake."

"I'm sorry," Makino said. "But we're all out."

"All out, eh?" The man looked around the room. "Then what are _they_ drinking?"

"I'm afraid I gave them the last of the sake," Makino said.

"Sorry, pal," Shanks said, holding up a bottle. "My crew and I seem to have gotten carried away. You can have this."

Law flinched when the man broke the bottle. Its contents spilled over the red haired captain.

"Do you think a small bottle like that could satisfy me? It's not even enough for a night cap. Do you even know who I am? I'm Higuma. A mountain bandit worth eight million," Higuma said.

"Just great," Shanks said, looking at the mess that was made.

Higuma sliced his sword over more bottles, making an even bigger mess before leaving. "Don't mess with me or else."

"Oh my gosh!" Makino rushed around the bar and knelt down to Shanks, trying to clean him off with a rag. "Are you all right?"

Shanks only replied with a laugh. His crew quickly joined in.

"He sure showed you, Captain!"

"That was great!"

"Stop that!" Luffy shouted, jumping to his feet on his stool. "Why are you all laughing?!"

"It's no big deal, Luffy," Shanks said. "The guy just spilled some booze on me."

"Whatever!" Luffy sat back down.

Law sighed and took a drink of his juice. He couldn't and never would figure out why Luffy liked hanging around these men so much.

"Hey! Don't tell me you ate the fruit in that box!" Shanks screamed.

Law turned to find Shanks was holding Luffy by his ankles.

"Spit it out! Right now! Spit it all out!" Shanks demanded.

Law's eyes widened when Luffy's neck stretched and his face slammed into the floor. "What the heck?!"

"What…what just happened?" Luffy asked.

"Luffy!" Shanks screamed. "You just ate the Gum Gum Fruit! You idiot!"

"Gum Gum Fruit?" Law asked.

"It's a Devil Fruit," Benn said. "Your brother is now made of rubber."

"Luffy! You moron!" Law punched Luffy's head only to have it bob unharmed. "You should know better than to go around and eat strange food and food that doesn't belong to you!"

"Why did you hit me?!" Luffy demanded.

"You deserved it!" Law said before turning his attention to the pirates. "This means he can't swim anymore, right?"

"That's right." Shanks nodded. "And if he ever eats another one, he'll die."

"Just great." Law ran his hand over his face before grabbing Luffy's shirt and pulling him out of the bar.

"Hey, where are we going?" Luffy asked.

"Home!" Law snapped. "You've caused enough trouble for one day."

…

The next day, while doing his chores, Law got a bad feeling in his chest. Wondering around the farm, he looked for his younger brother but couldn't find him. "Oh no! Don't tell me he went back to fight those bandits!"

Law bolted away from the farm knowing that is exactly what his boneheaded brother would do. The world blurred around him as he ran down the dirt path and into the town. He bolted into the Party Bar, but found no one there. He ran back out and headed on through the town. His heart jumped into his throat when a gun went off. "Luffy!"

"What?! Oh no! I let him get away!" Shanks shouted out. "He has Luffy!"

"What?!" Law shrieked.

"Oh, Law," Yasopp said.

"Where's Luffy?!" Law asked.

"That bandit from yesterday took off with him," Yasopp said.

"We have to find him!" Shanks said. "Where is he?!"

"Ah! What if he took Luffy out to sea?!" Law said. "Luffy will drown now!"

"What?! Just great!" Shanks took off towards the sea.

Law quickly followed after him. But with Shanks having longer legs than him, the man easily out ran him. "God, please no! Don't let Luffy drown! Don't let him drown! Please, let Shanks get there in time!"

The dirt under Law's shoes changed to grass and then to sand. His shoes hit the water before he backpedaled. He was a Devil Fruit user too. If he went in the water, he would drown. Backing up several steps, Law passed up and down the beach. He saw Shanks disappearing to farther he saw out to sea. He tried looking for Luffy, but if they were really on the water, they were far enough away that he couldn't see them.

Then the sand beneath Law's feet swayed. His head spun, as did the world around him. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head. "Not…not again."

"Hey, kid, are you all right?" a familiar voice asked.

 _She stared at the red haired man. His eyes dropped down to the fire that they were sitting around. At the same time she looked at the rest of the red haired man's crew, Law looked as well. A few of them also had regretful looks on their faces while others looked sad but didn't have regret in their expressions for some reason._

 _Law had no idea why such strong and powerful men would look so guilty for. Then he noticed she was looking back at him. She was nervous, scared, confused, and wanted guidance from him. He nodded. It was a nod of encouragement. He watched her closely as she pushed herself to her feet and walked over to the pirates, to the red haired man, to Shanks. The girl knew who Shanks was, somehow._

 _When she was about five feet from him, she paused for a split second before closing the distance between them. She kneeled down on Shanks' left side. She paused again. He noticed she was looking down at the red haired man's left arm. It was missing. He turned his eyes back to them in time to see her hesitantly reaching for the man. She cupped his face. He didn't resist in the slightest as she guided his eyes up to hers. She gave him a sweet smile. "Please, don't blame yourselves for what happened back then. You all were up against people who controlled nature and who were under the darkness crystal's influence. I don't blame you," She looked around at his crew, "any of you, for the death of my parents or for losing me back then. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't Kailen's fault. It was all the darkness crystal and Atlas' fault for betraying Luminous."_

"Luminous?" Law murmured when the vision started to fade way from him.

"What did you say?"

Law looked up to the man kneeling in front of him. It was Benn. But instead of his typical laid back expression the pirate normally wore his expression was that of horror, shock, and suspicion.

"What did you just say?" Benn asked again.

"I'm not sure," Law said, rubbing his forehead. "Something about a girl and an island." Lost in his daze, he didn't see the looks of concerns passing through the crew. "Wait…where's Luffy? Is he all right?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Benn said. "That captain should be with him by now."

"Hey, looks like someone's swimming this way," Lucky Roo said, pointing out at the sea.

"Huh?" Law looked up. His vision was blurred but he could make out Shanks red hair coming closer to them.

"Law, what happened?" Luffy asked when they arrived on the beach. Tears ran down his cheeks as he moved away from Shanks and threw his arms around Law. "Please, don't die!"

Law punched Luffy over the head. "Don't be an idiot! I'm not dying! I was just having another vision!"

"Hm?" Luffy tilted his head. "Vision? What vision?"

"You're so hopeless." Law sighed.

"Is he okay?" Shanks asked.

"Yeah, he's fine," Luffy said.

"I saw her again," Law murmured.

"Saw who?" Shanks asked.

"Her…she was with you…" Law looked up at Shanks. "She was talking about someone she knows and some place…I don't really remember. It was called Lumin-something, I think."

Shanks tense up. He held his gaze on the boy long and hard before looking over to his crew. They were just as tense as he was.

"We need to get your arm taken care of," Law said, noticing the blood dripping from the wound. "I would help but I don't have any of the proper equipment with me."

"Don't worry about it," Shanks said. "You two should go on home. You've had a long day."

"But you're the one who got his arm bit off," Law said.

"I'll be fine," Shanks said. "My crews' doctor will patch this right up. You two head home right now."

"Okay," Luffy said, standing up.

Law sighed and nodded. Pushing himself up to his feet, he turned and walked back towards the town with Luffy by his side.

"How do you think he knows about Luminous?" Benn asked once the boys were far enough away.

"I don't know," Shanks said as his ship's doctor started cleaning his wound. "But I need to speak to him in private. I need to know what all he knows about Luminous and its people."

"What should we do then, Captain?" Yasopp asked.

"We'll wait until it's dark," Shanks said. "I want you and Benn to bring Law to the ship. I can talk to him there without other people listening in."

"You got it, Captain," Yasopp said.

…

Law was glad when they had finally returned home. The events of the day had completely drained him. As soon as he could, he scribbled down what details he could about his recent vision. After that he fixed supper for them all and then was more than glad to take a bath and head to bed.

Sleep had come quickly for Law. The second he flopped, belly down, on the bed, he was asleep. He didn't even notice that Luffy was having another wild night of sleeping. But something else did wake him up. He felt something was off. Sitting up, he tired to look around their room only to find it suddenly go dark as something fell over his head. "Hey! What the heck is goin-" He was silenced when something hard hit him on the head.

"You didn't have to knock him out," Yasopp said.

"Yeah, I did," Benn replied. "He would have woken the other's up."

"You better hope he doesn't sleep the whole night through," Yasopp said, heading for the door of the room. "The captain wants to talk to him, remember?"

"I didn't hit him that hard," Benn said following after his friend. "He'll wake up shortly after we get back to the ship."

"You better hope you're right," Yasopp said.

The two pirates stepped lively yet lightly as they made their way carefully down the creaking staircase and out the front door. Being after midnight their trek to get Law and get him back to the ship was easy. No one was out this late. And if anyone was it was because they were drunk and had yet to fall asleep themselves. Still, they managed to get to the ship without anyone seeing them.

…

Law slowly woke up to a throbbing in his head. Something cold dribbled down his forehead. Swiping it away he found it was water. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring up at a wooden ceiling and a wet rag was on his forehead. But something was different about this ceiling from the one in his room. It was darker. He then realized a small amount of light only made part of the ceiling dark. And the light registered as light from a candle.

"Sorry about the headache you have," Shanks said.

"Huh?" Law turned his head, causing a wet cloth of fall on the bed beside him. Ignoring it, he found the red haired man sitting right beside the bed in a chair. No one else was in the room. "Shanks? What's going on?"

"I had you brought here because we need to talk about something," Shanks said.

"Why does my head hurt so much?" Law asked, placing his hand on his forehead.

"I'm sorry about that," Shanks said. "But it was important that you came here."

"And you had to hit me?" Law asked, sitting up.

"It wasn't me who did that," Shanks said.

"Fine. Then whichever flunky," Law said.

"Look, forget about that for right now," Shanks said. "Earlier you mentioned Luminous."

"Uh, yeah." Law blinked slowly.

"I need to know what you know about it," Shanks said.

"What are you talking about?" Law asked. "I don't know anything about it. I only…" He trailed off, unsure if he should mention his visions to this man.

"You only what?" Shanks asked.

"It's nothing," Law said, looking down at the bed he was sitting on. He glanced around the room again. With the porthole in the wall and all of the wood he instantly knew he was on the pirate's ship.

"Look, Law," Shanks said.

Law turned his eyes back to Shanks and gulped. The red haired man had an intense look, one that he's never seen the man wear before. It was even more intense than when the mountain bandits tried to hurt Luffy.

"Very few people know about Luminous," Shanks said. "If you want to continue living then you had better tell me everything you know about it and if you intend to harm the people living there."

"What are you talking about? I'm not going to hurt anyone!" Law jumped off the bed.

"Then tell me what you know!" Shanks demanded.

"I don't know anything!" Law snapped. "I only saw a blue haired girl talking to you!"

"Blue haired girl?" Shanks asked.

"That's right!" Law said before noticing Shanks' intense look was being replaced by a thoughtful one.

"How old was this girl?" Shanks asked.

"I don't know," Law said. "She looked really young."

"Is that it?" Shanks said.

"That's it," Law said. "I don't know anything else. She was just talking to you around a fire. I think your crew and mine was there too."

"Your crew?" Shanks eyebrows rose. "You're just a kid. You don't have a crew."

"I don't," Law said. "Then why did I say I did?"

"I don't know," Shanks said. The room went quite for a few minutes before he said, "Look if you ever run into anyone from Luminous or if you somehow manage to find it don't you dare try to hurt them."

"I already told you," Law said. "I'm not looking to hurt anyone. I don't even know who or what or where this Luminous or that girl even is."

"All right." Shanks relaxed. "I believe you. I won't hurt you now. But my threat on Luminous and its people remains. Do not hurt them. _Ever._ "

"Why? Why are you so protective of them?" Law asked.

"That you will only know if you ever meet one of them," Shanks said. "I won't tell their secrets to anyone."

"Secrets?" Law murmured.

Shanks stood up and placed the chair back under the desk. "You can go now."

"Fine." Law headed for the door. He took a glance at Shanks before opening it and stepping out into the hall. The door down the hall to his right was open. Moonlight shone in, guiding him to the exit. Stepping out onto the deck he found the rest of the Red Haired Pirates. All of their eyes turned to him. All of them were tense. Their eyes lifted up over his head. Turning around he found that Shanks had followed him.

"He can go," Shanks said. "I don't believe he's a threat to them."

The pirates relaxed.

Law gave them all a curious look before heading over to the rope ladder. He climbed on top of the railing and lowered himself down.

"Are you sure about this, Captain?"

Law paused.

"Did he tell you what he knew about the Elementals and Luminous?"

"Elementals?" Law whispered.

"I don't believe he's ever heard of them. I think he was telling the truth when he told me he was just having a vision," Shanks said.

"But how could that be possible? And who was the girl in his vision?" Lucky Roo asked.

"I don't know," Shanks said. "I was hoping that it was Neo."

"So it wasn't her?" Yasopp asked.

"I don't believe so," Shanks said. "He said the girl was young but not a child. It's probably someone else."

"That is possible," Benn said. "We know quite a lot of Elementals."

"Do you think he'll go after them?" Lucky Roo asked.

"I don't believe so," Shanks said. "He's learning to become a doctor. Doctors don't typically go out to hurt people. Even if he does meet up with one they can handle themselves just fine. And if something does happen they'll come tell us."

Law listened to the crew agree before continuing on down the ladder. Once his feet touched the dock, he ran back home. His mind spinning with several questions. Why was he having these visions? Who was that girl? What was her connection to Shanks? What the heck was going on here?

The next day didn't bring him anymore answers. He was still just as confused as he was from the day before. So much so that he couldn't get close to the pirates at all, even when they were leaving. He just stood back while Luffy said his goodbyes to Shanks. Much to his surprised, Shanks gave Luffy his beloved straw hat and asked his brother to bring it back when he became a great pirate one day. "Great. Grandpa isn't going to like that."

Law stiffened when he noticed Shanks looking over at him. They locked eyes. The pirate's eyes were full of warning. A reminder of what happened between them last night. He hadn't told anyone. And he wasn't planning on telling anyone. Not at least until he could figure out what everything meant. Shanks was the one to break eye contact first. Law was able to relax then. The pirate wasn't going to do anything to him. He just watched the pirates finish loading up their ship and head out to sea once more. Now all he and Luffy could do was wait. Wait and see what was going to happen to them.


	4. Ace & Bandits

Ace & Bandits

A week passed by without their grandpa showing up. But Law knew that couldn't last forever. He knew the old man was coming. And that morning he woke up to the familiar sound of their grandpa's laughter. Sitting up, he glanced down at Luffy. The young boy was still sound asleep. So he took the time to slip out and head to the stairs. Once there he stood at the top and listened in to their conversation.

"I really am sorry, Garp," Dr. Bay said. "I just can't stay here anymore."

"Don't worry about it," Garp said. "I was getting tired of my grandsons being influenced by pirates anyway."

Law twitched with annoyance. He wasn't being influenced by pirates at all.

"And I know I arrived just in time," Garp continued. "I hear that Shanks had given Luffy his hat when he was here last time."

"That's correct," Dr. Bay said. "He also saved Luffy's life from a sea king."

"So I have heard," Garp said. "He wouldn't have gotten himself into that predicament if he wasn't messing around with those pirates and mountain bandits. Such a brat."

"Where will you take them now?" Dr. Bay asked.

Law's breath hitched.

"I'm going to take them up to Mt. Corvo," Garp said. "I have some people up there that will be more than willing to watch over them for me."

"Mt. Corvo?" Law asked himself. "Grandpa's been up that way before. I wonder why he goes up there."

"All right, Law," Garp said, making the boy jump. "You come on down here. I know you're there."

Swallowing, Law wandered down the stairs. Garp and Dr. Bay were sitting across from each other at the table.

"You should know better than to ease drop on your elders like that," Garp said.

"I'm sorry," Law said. "I was…just curious where you were going to take us."

"Well, I guess you know now," Garp said. "Is Luffy up yet?"

"No, sir," Law said.

"He better get up soon," Garp said. "It way passed sunrise."

"I can go wake him up," Law said. "When are we leaving?"

"As soon as possible," Garp said. "I have to get back soon to Navy headquarters."

"Garp, if you would," Dr. Bay said. "I'd like to have one last meal with the boys before we part ways."

"I suppose that would be fine," Garp said. "Law, go get Luffy up."

"Yes, sir." Law turned and headed back upstairs. Walking back into their room, he was hit with a huge dose of nostalgia. But it wasn't from leaving this place. It was from something else. Something more painful. He just couldn't figure out what it was. His eyes landed on Luffy. The boy was hanging half off the bed now with his mouth hanging wide open. He knew Luffy was going to hate what was about to come. Still, he woke the sleeping boy up. "Luffy, get up."

"Sleepy," Luffy said. He rolled over and fell onto the floor. "Ouch!"

"You're rubber," Law said. "How could that hurt you?"

"It just did! Okay?!" Luffy sat up and grabbed his head.

"Just get up and get dressed," Law said. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out some clothes. "Grandpa's here." He paused. Part of him wanted to tell Luffy they were leaving, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. "Dr. Bay is cooking us all breakfast."

"What?!" Luffy gasped. "Grandpa's here?!"

"Yeah, he's here," Law said, leaving the room. He wasn't surprised at all when Luffy followed him. The boy always did. It was rare for Law to have the bathroom all to himself in the morning. Most of the time didn't care. But some times he wished Luffy would give him more privacy. When they both were done and dressed they headed downstairs.

"Hey, Grandpa!" Luffy said.

Law watched as Luffy purposefully sat on the opposite side of the table of their grandpa before he sat down beside the old man. He glanced over at Dr. Bay. That old man was standing at the stove cooking and looking more miserable than every. He sighed and just stared down at the table while waiting for breakfast.

"So I see that Shanks has given you his hat," Garp said. "Boy, what am I going to do with you?"  
"I love this hat!" Luffy said, pulling the hat farther down on his head. "Shanks saved me too!"

"He wouldn't have had to save you if you were being a stupid little moron!" Garp said.

Law sighed internally. These two would always be at odds with each other. He could just see the old man coming back from the grave, once he died, to argue with Luffy over how stupid he was being.

"I was standing up for Shanks' crew!" Luffy said.

"It was stupid!" Garp said.

"I don't care! I'm going to be a great pirate one day!" Luffy said.

"No, you're not! You're going to be a marine!" Garp said.

"I don't want to be a marine!" Luffy said.

"You're going to be one anyway!" Garp said. "Why can't you be more like Law? He's making a good choice in becoming a doctor for the Navy!"

Law chuckled internally. He never wanted to be part of the Navy either. He just wanted to be a doctor. But he was considering the Navy if it would keep Garp from yelling at him. There was time for that decision later. He wasn't any where near ready to become one. He still had a lot of studying to do. So he had no idea when exactly he was going to become a doctor.

"Breakfast is ready," Dr. Bay said.

Law grimaced at the meager meal Dr. Bay had put out on the table. The eggs were runny, the bacon and toast burnt, and the oranges had been peeled terribly. Still, he ate without a grumble, minus the bread of course. He once again gave that to Luffy.

"Boys, I want to thank you for the joys you have given me these past few years," Dr. Bay said once they were near being done eating.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" Luffy asked.

"I can no longer take care of you," Dr. Bay said. "It's too sad for me to live here. So I'm leaving this island to join some other family."

"We're moving to another island?" Luffy asked.

"No, Luffy," Dr. Bay said. "I'm leaving. You are staying here."

"But who's going to take care of us?" Luffy looked at Garp. "Is that why you're here? You're going to be taking care of us?"  
"Not quite," Garp said. "I'm taking you up to Mt. Corvo to live with some mountain bandits."

"What?! I don't want to live with stupid mountain bandits!" Luffy screamed.

"Well, too bad!" Garp replied. "You have no choice!"

"We can live here! On our own!" Luffy said.

"No! You can't! You're just kids! You need an adult around to take care of you!" Garp said.

"I am an adult!" Luffy jumped up and ran for the door. "I'm staying!"

"Luffy! You get back here!" Garp followed his grandson.

"Just great," Law said.

"They're going to be a while," Dr. Bay said. "And there's something I want you to have."

"What is it?" Law asked.

"Law, I want you to have all of my doctor books," Dr. Bay said.

"But why? Aren't you going to need them?" Law asked.

"No." Dr. Bay shook his head. "I'm getting too old to be a doctor. Once I leave this place, I'll be hanging up my stethoscope for good."

"I wish you wouldn't," Law said. "You're too good to just quit."

"We must reach this point at some time in our lives, Law," Dr. Bay said. "The time has come for me to pass it along. And I pass it to you. I've taught you all I could. Take the books with you, Law. Keep them and continue to study. I know you'll become a great doctor some day."

Law nodded. The next couple hours became a blur for him as he packed up his and Luffy's clothes. Part of him wished Luffy was here to help him, but another part of him was grateful for the silence. It made packing quicker. He knew his grandpa would be back soon with Luffy in his hold. Time seemed to still as he waited and packed. Moving didn't seem right. But what could he do? They were just kids. They had to do what they were told. Even if they rebelled against Garp the old man would just carry them to their new home. He knew that was already going to happen with Luffy.

"Law!" Garp bellowed.

"Let me go!" Luffy shouted.

Law sighed. He was correct. Luffy was in their grandpa's hold. This was going to be a loud trip to their new home. But then what wasn't loud with Luffy around?

"Law, get down here! We're leaving!" Garp shouted.

"Coming," Law murmured. Grabbing the bag of their clothes, and his book, he headed out of the room. Forcing himself not to look back into the room, he kept his eyes on the floor as he clomped downstairs. There his grandpa was standing in the door with Luffy in his hand and his pack of books on his shoulders. Law was grateful the old man had picked them up. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to carrying everything himself.

"Let's go," Garp said, heading out the door.

Law glanced back into the room. Dr. Bay was nowhere in sight. He wondered if the doctor was even in the house or if he had already left. With what little they always had, he couldn't tell if the doctor was going to take anything with him or just leave it all behind. Either way, he followed after his grandpa, closing the door to their home.

The trek through the woods and up the mountain was a noisy one like he thought it would be. But Law said nothing as he walked behind his grandpa and Luffy on the worn trail. Glancing over to his right, he could see some of the forest creatures watching them curiously. It made him wonder how big the animals were going to be out here. He was glad for his Devil Fruit. At least he had something to protect himself with out here.

"Grandpa, what I'm saying is I'll becoming King of the Pirates!" Luffy said, hanging from his cheek in their grandfather's hand.

"Cut the crap!" Garp said.

"Ouch! Let go!" Luffy shouted.

"On top of eating the Devil Fruit, you're talking such nonsense!" Garp said.

"Luffy, both you, Ace, and Law must become the strongest Navy soldiers ever," Garp said.

"Who's Ace?" Law wondered. But with the ruckus Luffy was making, Garp didn't hear him.

"Ow, ow, ow, dang it! Let me go!" Luffy said. "My body is made of rubber! Why does this hurt so much?! Let me go, Grandpa!"

"It was a mistake to leave you two in the Windmill Village! Of all things, you had to like pirates?! What a fool! You can't make friends with Red Haired Shanks!" Garp said.

Law sighed as Luffy grabbed a hold of a tree that they were passing. He could already see what was going to happen next in his mind. The tree was going to snap and hit Luffy and Garp. He watched as the roots started to give way.

"I want to become…" The tree snapped then smacked into them. "…a strong man like Shanks!"

"Hey!" Garp said.

Law sighed again. "They're always going to fight. They're like daylight and dark."

He turned his attention back to the worn path they were walking on. Considering how far they were up the mountain and in the forest, the path was used a lot. It made him wonder why. He would get his answer soon as they walked upon a medium size house in a clearing. He tilted his head, assuming this was their new home at their grandpa stepped up to the door and pounded on it.

"What is this place?" Luffy asked.

"Stop it! Whoever you are, do you want to get killed?!" a voice yelled from inside of the house.

Law blinked when a rather large woman with orange haired, wearing earrings, and cigarette in her mouth busted out the door.

"It's me," Garp said.

"What?! G-Garp?!" She jumped back out of shock, Law assumed. He looked passed her to see two guys sticking their heads out to see what hall the commotion was about. They were just as strange looking as she was. One had a red haired mohawk and the other was short with some kind of wrap around his head. The sight of them sunk Law's heart. He started missing the doctor even more. He didn't want to be around anymore strange people. Luffy was enough for him.

"You're looking good," Garp said.

"Give me a break! Please, you got to have mercy on me!" the woman said. "Ace is ten years old now!"

"Who's Ace?" Law asked again only to get ignored again.

"Oh yeah, already? How is he doing?" Garp asked.

"It's not funny," one of the men said. "We can't handle him anymore! You have to take him back!"

Law pulled his eyes away from the three new people to look at Luffy. Like always, his little brother was running around carefree. He shook his head. Luffy's emotions were like the wind. You never knew which way they were going to blow. One minute the rubber boy is angry, the next he's happy. It annoyed him to no end.

"Putting that aside," Garp said.

"Don't put it aside!" the man said.

"You're annoying, kids!" the woman said.

Garp grabbed Luffy by his shirt when the young boy runs by and holds him up. "Look after these two, too. Hey, Luffy and Law, say hi to them."

"Yo!" Luffy waved.

"Hi," Law said.

"Who are those kids?" the shorter guy asked.

"They're my grandsons," Garp said.

"What?! Two more?! Their Garp's…Garp's grandsons?! We can't!" the three shout.

"All right then, here's your choice," Garp said, arms crossed after dropping Luffy back to the ground. "Do you want to spend all your life in prison or raise them? There are many crimes you have committed that I've overlooked."

"Come on!" all three shout.

"Could you at least introduce yourselves?" Law asked.

"Shut up, kid!" the woman snapped.

"That's Dadan." Garp pointed at them as he said their names. "That's Dogra and Magra. The others are probably inside. They'll have to introduce themselves later."

"Right." Law nodded. That would explain why the path is so well worn. There were multiple people living here. He glanced passed the three and into the open door. He could only see wooden walls. No one else seemed to be around. Or they were in another area of the house that he couldn't see.

"Well, I don't want to get arrested but…" Magra said.

"Sometimes I think that maybe it's better to be in prison than take care of Ace," Dogra said.

"But you want us to look after your grandsons, too? I bet they'll be monsters, too!" Dadan shouted.

"Hey! I'm not a monster!" Law snapped.

"Crappy shack!" Luffy said.

"You want to fight, you little brats?!" Dadan screamed. But Luffy ran off like he didn't even hear her. Law knew he didn't. His little brother was the best when it came to selective hearing. "Not listening!"

Law turns and watched Luffy run around the area. Suddenly, a blob of spit came from the trees and landed on his cheek. He cringed as Luffy wiped it off. His eyes then wondered towards the direction the spit came from. A freckled faced boy about their age was sitting on top of an animal with a scowl on his face.

Luffy said, "What is this?! Ugh, spit! Gross! Who did this?!" He walked over to Ace. "Hey, you! Say sorry! It's gross!"

"Ace!" Garp said.

"Huh?" Law watched Garp walk over to the boy. "So that's Ace."

"Are you back, Ace?" Magra asked.

"Hey! Say you're sorry!" Luffy said.

"Luffy, Law, this is Ace. He's three years older than you," Garp said. "You two are going to live here with them from today on."

"That's just great," Law grumbled.

"What?! You can't just do that!" Dadan said.

Garp hit Luffy. "Be nice."

"It's decided just like that?!" Dadan asked.

"Any problem with that?" Garp asked.

"What?! We'll take him!" the three said.

Law sighed. He knew that was coming. This old man had a way of getting what he wanted.

"That's all from me. I'll stop by when I have time," Garp said, sitting Law's books down.

"Thanks," Law said, despite not feeling any joy in his chest.

"Uh, what about some child support?" Dadan asked.

"Put it on my bill," Garp said while he walked away.

"This is not a bar," Dadan said.

"You're always welcome!" Dogra said.

"Boss, we can't take care of two more kids!" Magra said.

Law turned back to his brother just in time to see him follow Ace inside of the house. Instead of following the two, he remained outside and looked around his surroundings. His heart sank. He already didn't like it here. A ruckus from inside caused him to grab his books, turn, and enter into their new home. He looked around the hall. It was plan; lacking any sort of pictures. "So where's our room?"

"Huh?" Dogra turned and looked at him. "Oh, down the hall and to the right. You and Luffy will be staying with Ace in that room."

"Thanks." Law hosted his books back up and headed down the hall. Coming to the room on his right, he entered it. There was only one bedroll on the floor. He assumed, or hoped, that they at least got one as well. With another sigh threatening to pass over his lips, he moved farther into the room. He placed their clothes and his books down in the corner of the room. He glanced around again, hoping to find a lantern he could use to study with. Not feeling like going out to be with the others, he sat down and pulled out one of his medical books. He opened it but barely registered any of the words that were staring back at him. He just couldn't get focused on reading. Some voices passed by the room, all complaining about having to watch two more kids. Law couldn't agree more with them. He wanted out too. His mind began to calculate how quick they could get out of here. It wasn't quick enough.

Before long the smell of meat leaked into the room. It pulled him away from his book and back out into the hall. He followed the smell to a larger room. There several bandits had gathered just as Dadan placed a pile of meat on the floor. He walked over and sat down by a square hole in the floor where a fire was. Dadan was sitting there as well. She handed him a bowl of rice. He took it and looked up just in time to see the bandits piling on top of the meat like a pack of rabid dogs. He was glad to not be very hungry. He might have lost an entire arm trying to get some meat.

"Can I have some more, Pops?" Luffy asks after finishing his rice.

"I'm a woman! Do you even know where you are now?!" Dadan screamed.

"No," Luffy said.

"Then I'll tell you. This is the den of the Dadan family, mountain bandits that rule Mt. Corvo!" Dadan said.

"Mountain bandits? I hate mountain bandits," Luffy said.

Dadan pulled out a knife and jammed it into the floor. "Shut up, you little punk! We're annoyed by having a kid like you around! If you don't want to stay here, that's fine! Go away and die like a dog somewhere!"

"Easy, easy, boss," Magra said.

"I want to eat more. I want to have meat, too," Luffy said as a stream of drool spilled over his lips as he watched Ace rip into a piece of meat.

Law groaned and rubbed his forehead in frustration when Luffy snapped like a piranha as Dadan dangled a piece of meat just out of Luffy's reach. "You're so pathetic, Luffy."

"This meat is from a bison that Ace brought home. He gave us a cut of the take so everybody can eat. The mountain bandits' world is rough sailing. You're going to have to work pretty hard from now on. Cleaning, laundry, polishing shoes, and weapons, burglary, robbery, fraud, and murder! Remember you can't tell Garp what we make you do! One bowl of rice and one glass of water for a day! That's all I can guarantee you. You've got to get everything else buy yourself and grow up on your own," Dadan said.

"Okay," Luffy said.

"Okay?! Why don't you cry or something?!" Dadan shriek.

"I'm fine because Grandpa threw me into a jungle once and there was water to drink and frogs, snakes, and mushrooms to eat in the forest. Plus, I'll become a pirate someday so I must be strong like that!" Luffy said.

 _Jungle? I don't remember Luffy being thrown into a jungle._ Law narrowed his eyebrows and stared into his bowl of rice. The memory wasn't striking a cord with him at all. If Luffy was really his twin then he should have remembered that. The sound of something hitting the floor brought his eyes back up. The woman had fallen over, probably from Luffy's revelation about surviving the jungle. Luffy then jumped up and ran after Ace who headed for the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?! Did you just say pirate?!" Dadan asks. "He's not listening!"

"Welcome to my world," Law said. "And, yes, he did say pirate."

"No way! I don't want to take care of Garp's grandsons at all!" Dadan said.

"Easy, easy, boss," Magra said.

"No!" Dadan said.

Law sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, nether one of us wants to be here either. But we have no choice. We're just going to have to make the best of it."

"You seem a lot more mature than Luffy," Dogma said. "Are you two sure you're related?"

"I've been wondering that a lot lately myself," Law said.

"What?" Dogma asked.

"Nothing." Law finished his rice and placed the bowl down before standing up to head for his new room. "I'm going to study."

The men mumbled something as he went but he didn't stop to listen to them. He just made his way to his and Luffy's new room and sat with his books. Time passed fairly slow as he ran his eyes over the words before him. Eventually, he placed his book down and left the room. Just as he made his way into the hall Ace walked through the door carrying a large fish.

"Where's Luffy? I thought he was with you," Magra said.

"I don't know nor do I care where he is," Ace said.

"He was following you," Law said.

"He's not my responsibility," Ace said.

Law frowned. Ace did have a point. But he could have at least made sure Luffy got back safely. Pushing it aside, Law walked passed Ace and stepped outside. His eyes scanned the darkening jungle around him. He wanted to go out looking for Luffy but knew it would be stupid. Luffy could be anywhere. And it was getting dark. He had no choice but to go back into the house and wait to see if Luffy showed up. He found himself wondering down the hall to the fire room. Peering inside he found Dogma and Magra slicing up the fish. "Need any help?"

"You want to help?" Magra asked.

"Sure." Law shrugged. "I don't mind. I could make some onigiri."

"Onigiri, huh?" Dogra said.

"Yeah." Law nodded. "It's one of my best dishes."

"Sounds good to me," Dogra said.

"It goes best with grilled fish," Law said.

"We can grill the fish," Magra said.

"I'll get started on the onigiri," Law said. Walking over to the cabinets, he pulled out the necessary items he would need. He then washed his hand and set out to mold the rice.

"Get a hold on yourself, boss!" Dogra said.

"What did you say?" Dadan asked.

"I said it's not good that we lost him on the first say," Dogra said.

"Who cares?! If he dies, he dies!" Dadan said.

"Garp's going to kill us," Magra said.

"First of all, why should we look after Garp's grandsons?!" Dadan pours her more sake. "We're not nannies! He has to take care of his own grandsons!"

"Why don't you say that to him?" Magra asked.

"You have a problem?" Dadan asked.

Law listened to the three speaking across the hall from him. He was still working on the onigiri and wondering where Luffy was. As much as he wanted to go out and looked for Luffy, he knew better. Going out into an unknown jungle at night was stupid. He would have to wait until tomorrow.

…

Law sighed as he walked back to the house. One week has passed since Luffy disappeared from following Ace. He had gone out each day since, trying to figure out where his little brother went. He found nothing. Pausing at the door, he looked back at the jungle, hoping to see Luffy. Nothing. He went inside. Passing by everyone, he entered into their shared room. Just as he sat down shout broke through the house.

"Luffy! Where the heck have you been?! DO you have any idea how worried I've been about you?!"

Law jumped up and bolted outside. He grabbed Luffy in a hug. "Luffy! You idiot! Where the heck have you been?!" He pulled back to look at Luffy's injures. He didn't get a good enough look as Dadan grabbed Luffy by the cheek and pulled.

"I've been chased by wolves at the bottom of the valley," Luffy said.

"What were you doing at the bottom of the valley?" Dogra asked. "Anyway, it's nice that you're okay."

"Yeah." Magra nodded.

"It's not okay! The pest came back!" Dadan said. She grabs him and takes him into Ace's room. "Why don't you go to bed tonight?! You got work to do tomorrow! Already?!"

"Idiot," Law murmured as he followed Dadan into the house. He wasn't exactly sure who he was calling an idiot, Dadan or Luffy. Perhaps he meant both. They both were being stupid after all. Sighing, he sat down and turned on the lantern he had acquired. Opening his book he read over the material on how to fix a damaged intestine.

…

Law looked up from his book and stared at a piece of the blue sky through the leaves of the trees. A month had passed since they were brought to his place. And things were oddly normal. Luffy constantly went after Ace when the freckled face boy disappeared into the jungle. And each time Luffy came back with more cuts, scrapes, and bruises. He tired to talk Luffy out of following Ace, but it was to no avail. Luffy just wouldn't listen to anyone once he had his mind set on something. So all he could do was continue to study so he could fix up Luffy's wounds. But today something felt off. Something told him he needed to go after Luffy.

"Where they went?" Dogra said. "Well, sometimes Ace goes towards the Grey Terminal. They might be there."

"Thanks." Law shifted his pack of medical supplies and headed of to find them. The forest snapped out at him, scraping him up but he didn't care. He only knew he needed to find Luffy. Iron then found its way to his nose. His heart pounded hard against his chest. He broke through a bunch of giant leaves and paused. There they were. Ace and Luffy and some blonde boy he's never see before. "What the heck?! Luffy! What happened to you all?! You're bleeding like crazy!"

"Nothing happened," Ace said.

"Don't give me that crap!" Law snapped. Pulling out his medical supplies he started taking care of Luffy's injuries. "I'm not stupid! How did you get so badly injured?! Tell me right now or I'm going to tell Dadan and Garp about this!"

"Fine," Ace said before telling them everything about what happened between them and Bluejam.

"That's just stupid," Law said. "This whole thing is just stupid. How did it get to this? Just yesterday we were sitting on a peaceful island and eating a big meal thanks to Neo and Sanji."

"What?" Luffy asked. "Who're Neo and Sanji?"

"What do you mean?" Law asked. He looked up at Luffy then over at Ace and Sabo. All three of them were looking at him like he just sprouted a second head. "Okay. Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Yesterday you were at Dadan's," Ace said.

"Why did you say we were out on an island?" Luffy asked. "And who's Neo and Sanji?"

"I don't know," Law said. "I don't know anyone with those names."

"Then why did you say their names?" Sabo asked.

"I don't know," Law said. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

"And I thought Luffy was strange," Ace said. "Sounds like you're just as weird as he is."

"You three aren't making any sense," Law said placing a bandage on Luffy's cheek.

"Ouch! Not so hard!" Luffy said.

"Shut up," Law said. "You three really take the cake." After finishing Luffy, he got up and took care of Sabo and Ace. "There. That should do it. Let me know if anything gets infected."

"You have a bad habit, Ace, did you know that?" Sabo said as he leaned against a cliff. He looked up at Ace. The freckled faced boy was wrapping tape around his pipe. "When faced with a real pirate it's best to run! Why do you have such a death wish?"

"This one doesn't feel right," Ace said taking a swing with his pipe. "I liked the one I had."

"We made a very stupid mistake. The Bluejam clan won't forgive us," Sabo said. "They'll come after us."

"Oh, that was scary! I thought I was going to die!" Luffy cried.

"Don't cry," Law said sitting down beside Luffy. "You made the decision to follow them."

"You're so annoying! Shut up! Stop crying already!" Ace yelled. "I don't like cowards or people who cry a lot!"

"Thank you." Luffy bowed his head. "You helped me!"

"You little brat! How dare you say that to me!" Ace snapped and scrambled to rip Luffy apart but Sabo held him back.

"Whoa, he's just being thankful," Sabo said.

"Why didn't you cough it up in the first place?" Ace asked. "They're kind of people who'd kill women and kids without hesitation!"

"I thought if I said anything you wouldn't be my friend," Luffy said.

"It's better than dying, isn't it?" Ace asked. "Why do you want to become my friend that much?"

"Because…" Luffy said.

"Didn't I give you a hard time until now?" Ace asked. "How could you follow me this far?"

"Because…because I don't have nobody else besides Law to trust!" Luffy said. "I can't go back to Windmill Village and I don't like the mountain bandits! And Law does nothing but study because he wants to be a doctor!"

Guilt hammered into Law. Did he really spend that much time studying? He thought back over the passed month but for some reason he couldn't remember anything. His mind was a huge black and empty void. He murmured, "That's odd."

"If I didn't follow you, I'd be all alone!" Luffy said. "Being lonely is more painful than getting hurt!"

"Where are you parents?" Ace asked.

"Grandpa and Law are all I have," Luffy said.

"Is it easy for you when I'm around?"

"Yes!"

"Is it hard without me?"

"Uh huh."

"Do you want me to live?"

"Of course I do," Luffy said.

"What about you, Law?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Law said snapping out of his thoughts. "I'm becoming a doctor. So it's not normal for me to wish for people to die."

"I see. But I don't like spoiled kids like you." Ace turns his back to them.

"I'm not spoiled! I'm strong!" Luffy jumped off the cliff he was sitting on.

"Strong?! You're not strong at all! You cry like a girl!" Ace yelled.

"Have you ever gotten hit by a spiky thing?! I'm only seven! When I become your age, ten, I'll stop crying and become stronger!" Luffy said.

Law sighed and rubbed his temples. Why did everyone he came around have to yell all of the time?

"I wouldn't cry even if I were seven, stupid! I'm not like you!" Ace said.

"I'm going to become stronger than anyone! I promised Shanks I'd become a great pirate!" Luffy replied.

"You become a pirate?!"

"Yes!"

"No way!

"Yes way!"

"Is he always like this?" Sabo asked walking over to Law.

"Yup. How about Ace?" Law nodded.

"Yup." Sabo said. "Okay, that's enough!" He pushes the two arguing boys apart. "Hey, by the way, I have a little problem."

"What problem?" Luffy asked.

"Bluejam and the others will try to kill the three of us after this for sure, right?" Sabo asked.

"Well, I think so," Ace said.

"I say that's a safe bet from what you've told me," Law said.

"This forest that I've been living in is close to where they are, the Cove of Pirates," Sabo said walking away from them a bit. "What if they attack me when I fall asleep exhausted?"

"Then they'll kill you," Ace said.

"Yeah! They'll kill you," Luffy said. "Right?"

"That's why I need your help," Sabo said, turning back to them. "Huddle up, guys."

…

"You know Dadan isn't going to be happy about this," Law said as they headed back to Dadan's house. "She's going to scream a lot about this."

"It's not like we got a choice," Sabo said.

"Fine," Law said. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Is that it?" Sabo asked a little while later when the house came into view.

"It sure is," Luffy said.

Law sighed. The other three ran ahead of him. He followed them but reluctantly. Once inside he found they were instantly asleep, partly piled on top of each other as they had their legs crossed. He shook his head. A heavy wave of sleep passed over his body. He laid down and tried to get some sleep. But he was restless. Images passed through his mind all night long, as did voices. He saw Luffy, Ace, and Sabo fighting. A large fire had broken out somewhere. All kinds of voices yelled out but among them were one that stuck out the most. They sung a soft melody that made him want to set out to sea and spoke of changing your destiny.


	5. On the Sea

On the Sea

Law watched as Ace waved to him and Luffy from his small ship. Despite how close they had ended up becoming to the freckled face teenager, he couldn't find sadness at all. In fact, his body and soul was hollow. It was like he was wandering around the world but his body remained at the same place. Time appeared to fly by these past several years. And for whatever reason, he couldn't remember what had happened in those years. Or where Sabo had gone.

He blinked.

"Hey!" Luffy said.

"What?" Law looked down. Luffy was standing in a small ship waving up at him.

"Good luck, Luffy!"

Law looked to his left to find that Makino and several others from the village were standing with him on the deck. But how? A minute ago they weren't on the deck. They were on a cliff where Ace was leaving. So how did he end up here?

"Come on, Law!" Luffy said. "This is your last chance to come with me!"

"I told you I'm not coming!" Law replied. But he wanted to go. To where he wasn't sure exactly. He just had a feeling he needed to get on that ship but he couldn't get his feet to listen to him. Pain stabbed into his head. His vision blurred before his blue haired mystery girl appeared walking towards him. _"You…who are you?"_

 _"You have to get on the ship," she said._

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"Law! Listen to me! Get on that ship! You have to stay with Luffy! Don't let him out of your sight! We're going to get you both-"_

 _The girl disappeared._

" _Get the both of us what?" Law looked around but couldn't find her. All he could see was endless dark blue in all directions. "Where did you go?! Who are you?!"_

"You have to come back," Law said as his body fell forward. He hit hard and laid there staring up at the blue sky before his eyes closed. A little while later he woke up to pain in his back. "Ouch. What happened?"

"You're awake!" Luffy said. "Finally! It was getting boring just watching you sleep."

"What?" Law sat up and looked at Luffy. When he noticed the blue water behind his brother, he looked around. No island was in sight. "What the heck?! Where are we?!"

"We're heading out to become pirates of course," Luffy said. "I'm glad you changed your mind."

"What are you talking about?!" Law snapped. "I didn't change my mind!"

"Of course you did," Luffy said. "You jumped into the boat."

"I jumped?" Law thought back. Slowly his memories came back to him. "I didn't jump. I fell. That girl showed up again."

"Girl?" Luffy asked.

"Never mind," Law said. "Just take me back."

"Can't do that," Luffy said.

"Why not? Surely we haven't gone very far," Law said.

"You've been a sleep for eight hours," Luffy said.

"What?! Eight hours?!" Law's eyes widened.

"And I'm not sure which way is back anyway," Luffy said.

"What do you mean?" Law asked, dreading the answer already.

"We've just been floated around by the currents and by the wind," Luffy said.

"You have got to be kidding! I don't want to be a pirate!" Law said.

"Ah, come on," Luffy said. "It'll be fun. And it's not like you know the way back either."

Law gritted his teeth, thinking about ringing Luffy's neck, but then sighed. There was no point. He was stuck. Getting back to the island could take days. "This is just so stupid. If we're really going to be sailing the sea we need to get a bigger ship. This one just won't do in storms."

"Yeah! Law's staying!" Luffy threw his fists into the air.

"You're an idiot," Law said straighten out his shirt. "We have a lot of work to do. We're going to have to steal a lot of treasure to pay for new medical books and clothes. It'll take a while to get enough money to buy or build a ship so were just going to have steal one until then." He held out his hand. "Give me the log pose."

"Um, log pose?"

"Tell me you didn't forget it."

"I didn't forget it."

"Then hand it over." Law shook his hand.

"I don't have one," Luffy said.

"You what?!" Law grabbed Luffy by the front of his shirt and shook him. "How could you set sail without a log pose?!"

"It'll be more fun this way," Luffy said with a huge grin.

"You are such an idiot, Straw Hat!" Law said still shaking the rubber teenager.

"Straw Hat?" Luffy asked. "Why did you call me Straw Hat?"

Law paused. He had no idea why he called Luffy that. It just came out. "I'm…I don't know. It just happened."

"It doesn't matter," Luffy said. "I like the sound of it."

"Whatever." Law let Luffy go the sat back against the ship. "We'll just have to find one when we land. And it had better be soon. I don't want to die of starvation out here."

"Don't worry about that. I've got plenty of food right here." Luffy patted the only barrel in the ship.

"That's not going to be enough," Law said. "Not with the way you eat."

"You can always fish," Luffy said waving the pole. "I brought a pole too."

"And no bait I see," Law said. He sighed. "I guess I'll just have to use my Devil Fruit powers to catch fish."

"Yeah! See? It's all coming together!" Luffy said.

"If you say so," Law said. Pulling his bag off his back, he grabbed his book from inside and started writing down what he saw concerning the blue haired girl.

…

"Finally!" Law hauled himself upon the island that they had just landed on. He glanced around the island. It didn't look all that big, a forest on one side and a town on the other with several people running around. "I thought we'd never reach an island."

"It hasn't been that long," Luffy said.

"Two week is long, Luffy," Law said. His stomach rumbled. "Let's get something to eat. I should have enough berries on me to buy lunch."

"Yeah! Food!" Luffy took off towards the town.

Law followed after Luffy. When they stepped into the town they scanned the building for a place to eat. Tantalizing barbecue soon found its way to their noses, beckoning them to enter into a restaurant. They entered and Luffy sat down at the closest empty table. Law took the time to look around. The place was about half full but no one appeared to be a threat. So he sat down.

"What can I get for ya?" a waitress ask once she was standing at their table.

"I'll have tea," Law said. "And grilled fish and onigiri."

"I want meat!" Luffy screamed. "Lots and lots of meat!"

"Okay. And to drink?" she asked.

"Meat!" Luffy cheered.

"He'll just have water," Law said.

"Very well." She scribbled down their orders and went to put them in.

"Calm down, Luffy," Law said despite knowing it wouldn't do any good.

"What's taking them so long?" Luffy asked. "I'm hungry!"

"They just took our order, Luffy," Law said. "It's probably going to be at least twenty minutes before it comes."

"Aw." Luffy dropped his chin on the table. "But I want it now."

"You'll get it when it comes," Law said. He settled back in his chair and looked out the window. He watched the people pass by as Luffy busied himself with the small flower arrangement on the table. Twenty minutes later, their waitress came back with their food. She placed it on the table and told them to enjoy it then walked away. "After we eat we need to scout out the ships here. If we're luck we'll be able to get one."

Luffy mumbled a reply around the food in his mouth but he didn't make any sense.

"Can't you swallow before speaking?" Law sighed when Luffy only shook his head. "Just eat and lets get out of here."

Luffy nodded.

Fifteen minutes later they were finally walking out of the restaurant. Law took the lead as they headed over to the docks. There they sat down on a couple of crates and he scanned his eyes over the ships. Most of them were too big for only two people to handle. But there was one ship that would suit their needs. All they had to do was keep an eye on the crew that owned it, hope they weren't pirates, and steal it as soon as it got dark or as soon as they could. Sailing at night wasn't the smartest thing to do. But they might not have a choice. He continued to watch the crew roam about the deck of their ship before climbing down to the docks. His eyes lifted up to the top of the mast. There was no flag on it so he assumed they weren't pirates.

"All right," Law said sliding off the crate. "I think we've picked out the best one they have here."

"We did? When?" Luffy asked.

"We need to follow the crew," Law said taking off.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Luffy jumped off the crate and followed after him.

Law quietly followed behind the ten people that got off the ship. When they entered into a hotel he followed them. He stood close by them.

"How many rooms?" the man behind the desk asked.

"Five," a man said.

"And how long will you be staying?"

"About a week."

"Very well. Just sign here."

Law left the building. Only then did he notice that Luffy didn't follow him inside. Instead the rubber boy remained outside and was playing with a dog. "I'm going to find the library now. I need to see what type of medical books they have."

"Fine! Luffy said.

"If we can't find each other after that let's meet back up at the ship before sunset," Law said.

"Sure thing," Luffy replied while scratching the dog's belly.

Law exhaled and walked away. It didn't take him but three minutes to find the bookstore. He roamed the isle for a while, flipping through some books. None of them caught his interest. And there appeared to be no medical books in this place. So he left and started looking around again. He found two more bookstores but none of them had medical books either. "All well. Maybe the next island."

Heading away from the town, he went back to their ship to see if Luffy was there yet. He wasn't. So Law took the opportunity to take a nap. Stepping into the ship, he leaned against the side and closed his eyes. Some time later he opened his eyes to a loud thud and the rocking of the ship. "Luffy!"

"Sorry!" Luffy grinned. "When are we going to get going?"

"It's not dark yet," Law said.

"So what? Let's just do it now!" Luffy said.

"We'll be spotted," Law said. "And we don't have much practice sailing ships."

"So?"

"So, if we tried to take the ship now we would be caught," Law explained. "If we wait until night we'll have a better chance of sneaking off with the ship. No one will see us. We'll have plenty of time to get control over the ship."

"But I'm bored!" Luffy whined.

"Then take a nap." Law looked up at the sky. "It'll be dark in three hours."

"But that's way too long to wait! And I'm not tired!" Luffy plopped down on the deck and instantly fell asleep.

"Sure you're not tired." Law rolled his eyes. The three hours passed. Once the sun was set, he shook Luffy awake. "Come on. Let's go."

"About time!" Luffy jumped up.

"Keep it down," Law said climbing out of the ship. He led the way over to the docks only pausing once when a couple men walked by. Then he continued on with Luffy following him. At the ship's side, he grabbed the rope ladder and started climbing. He frowned when Luffy's arm shot passed him and the rubber boy screamed when he went sailing up. "I told you to keep it down."

"But no one's around," Luffy said now standing on the railing of the ship.

"You don't know that," Law said. He swung himself over the railing. "Let's just get out of here."

"Right!" Luffy jumped onto the deck.

Law shook his head and headed towards the mast. He jerked to a stop when an arrow shot passed his arm. A gust of wind followed it. It was so strong it almost knocked them off their feet. The wind stopped when the arrow pierced the deck next to his boot.

"Hold it right there. I'm not letting you take this ship."

Law looked up to find a teenager about their age pointing a bow and arrow at them from the upper deck. "Who are you?"

"Chasen," the guy said.

"Well, Chasen," Law said, "get out of our way. We're taking this ship and you're not stopping us. Room."

"Whoa!" Chasen exclaimed when a blue sphere appeared around them. "Hold on! I'm not really looking for a fight! I just wanted the ship for myself!"

"You're trying to steal this ship, too?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah." Chasen nodded.

"We're stealing this ship because we're pirates!" Luffy said.

"You didn't have to tell him that," Law said.

"Really?! I'm heading out to be a pirate myself!" Chasen said.

"That's so cool! Why don't you join our crew?!" Luffy said. "We're looking for new members!"

"Really?" Chasen blinked.

"Yeah! That wind thing you did was incredible!" Luffy said.

"What was that anyway? Devil Fruit?" Law asked.

"Uh, no, not really." Chasen rubbed his neck. "It's just a gift I was born with."

"You were born with control over the wind?!" Luffy's eyes sparkled. "That's so cool!"

"Control over the wind, huh?" Law mumbled.

"Does that sound familiar to you or something?" Chasen asked.

"It does," Law said with a nod. "But I'm not sure why."

"Perhaps you met someone with the same or similar skill," Chasen said.

"I don't remember meeting anyone like that," Law said.

"Maybe you just forgot," Chasen said. "I'm sure your memories will come back soon enough."

"Maybe I do have some sort of memory loss," Law said.

"Why would you say that?" Luffy asked.

"I've forgotten a lot of stuff," Law said. "And a lot of those memories are from these past-"

"Boring!" Luffy said.

"Boring?! You asked me about it in the first place!" Law shouted.

"Guys, someone's coming!" Chasen said. "We need to get out of here!"

"Let's go!" Law said. The three jumped down to the docks and disappeared between two buildings. Hiding in the shadows they watched as two men climbed aboard the ship they were trying to steal. Several minutes passed and they didn't come out. "Great. Looks like we can't take the ship tonight. Who knows how long they're going to be in there."

"Yeah," Chasen said. "They might be keeping an eye on the ship."

Law headed in the opposite direction of the docks.

"So what now?" Luffy asked. "Are we going to go sleep in the boat?"

"There's a cave near here," Chasen said. "I've been staying in that since I've been on this island. It's nice in there. We can start a fire."

"Great," Luffy said. "I'm staring."

"Then I'll show it to you and then we'll see if we can catch a fish or something," Chasen said. He took the lead and guided them through the town then into the woods. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a match. He then picked up a piece of wood and lit it.

Law eyed their surroundings. The forest was a thicker than it looked from the outside. Anyone, or anything, could be hiding behind the foliage. He paused and looked up. A strange feeling washed over him. Something about hiding in a forest sounded really familiar to him. But he's never hid in a forest before. He never had a reason to. So why was he having this feeling?

"Law!" Luffy called. "Are you coming or not?"

Law looked to find Luffy and Chasen were several yards ahead of him. He rushed to catch up with them. "Sorry."

"You all right, man?" Chasen asked.

"I'm fine," Law said. "Where is this cave?"

"It's not much farther now," Chasen said taking the lead again.

"So what was that wind thing you did?" Luffy asked. "Is it a Devil fruit?"

"No, its just something I was born with," Chasen said. "Did we just have this conversation?"

"That's so cool!" Luffy said. "Wish I was born with some kind of awesome powers!"

"You already have a Devil Fruit," Law said. "That's enough."

Three minutes later, they came up on a cave entrance. "Well, here we are." He stepped inside and placed the fire onto a pile of wood. Before long the fire snapped and crackled to life. "What do you think?"

"It's cave," Law said.

"It's amazing!" Luffy ran around the large cave. "I want one on the ship!"

"You can't have a cave on a ship!" Law snapped.

"Yes, I can! I'm the captain! I can have whatever I want!" Luffy cheered.

Chasen laughed. "He's insane!"

"He's an idiot," Law said sitting down by the fire. "That's what he is."

"So how long have you two known each other?" Chasen asked sitting on the opposite side of the fire.

"We're twins," Law said. "So for a long time."

"You're twins?" Chasen looked back and forth between Luffy and Law. "I never would have guessed."

"You're not the only one," Law mumbled.

"What was that?" Chasen asked.

"Nothing," Law said. "Never mind."

"Okay." Chasen stood back up. "Well, I'm going to go see if I can get some fish. If you can knock them down, there're a couple apple trees to the left of the cave."

"Right," Law said. He watched Chasen leave the cave before looking at Luffy. The rubber boy was still running around the cave. So he stood up, grabbed a stick that was on fire, and headed outside to get some apples. He found them easily. "Room. Shambles." He turned and headed back inside. He wasn't surprised at all when Luffy was already eating from the pile. Tossing the stick back into the fire he sat down and grabbed himself an apple. "You could at least wait for a minute."

"I'm hungry now!" Luffy mumbled from behind his mouthful.

Law rubbed the apple on his shirt before taking a bit of it. Sinking his teeth into it, an image flashed across his mind. It was his blue haired girl again. She was curled up on some floor of a prison. His heart sank when he saw she was crying and very scared. Then he saw himself appear beside her. He touched her. She shot up and crawled into his lap. They exchanged words before she shook her head. He then picked up an apple, took a bite of it, and fed it to the girl. The image faded. He placed his hand on his face. "She likes apples. But who is she?"

Law pulled out his book and started writing his vision down while finishing his apple. He got lost in his words and didn't notice when Chasen returned.

"Here we go!" Chasen said.

"Wow! It's huge!" Luffy said. "It's bigger than our ship!"

"How did you manage to catch that thing?" Law asked.

"Just gifted I guess. "Chasen smiled and shrugged.

Law didn't buy it. No one would be gifted enough to catch a fish of that size barehanded. He kneaded his eyebrows in thought. Maybe this guy used his winds? But for that the fish would have to have jumped out of the water. Fish usually stayed below the water at night. Did he steal the fish? No, it was way too fresh for that.

"It might be a bit difficult to cut up," Chasen said. "But I can do it."

"Room. Shambles." Law held up his hand and pulled all the meat out of the fish.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Chasen said. "Devil Fruit?"

"Op Op," Law said. "It's basically a surgical fruit."

"I see," Chasen said as he began to pluck pieces out of the air and place them on sticks.

"So yummy!" Luffy sniffed the air as it filled with roasting fish.

"So where are you two from?" Chasen sat down.

"Foosha Village," Luffy said.

"I've heard of it," Chasen said. "Never been there though."

"Where are you from?" Law asked.

"I mostly just sail round looking for things to do," Chasen said. "Very boring actually."

"Any reason you want to be pirate?" Luffy asked.

"To have fun, what else is there?" Chasen replied.

"You got that right!" Luffy reached for a piece of fish and ate it.

Law stared down into the fire, wondering why Chasen sidestepped the question on where he was from. He assumed the guy had a hard life and chose to ignore it for now. If Chasen wanted them to know where he came from then he would tell them. So he focused on eating instead then went to bed. He was the first one up the next day. Since the fish had all been eaten he had to settle for a couple apples for breakfast. Munching on an apple he headed outside to relieve himself. By the time he got back to the cave the other two were getting up.

"So what are we going to do today?" Luffy asked.

"Just sit around and wait to steal the ship again," Law said.

"Aw, but that's boring!" Luffy said. "Can't we just steal a ship now and get it over with?"

"I've already explained it to you that we can't do that," Law said.

"Then, why don't you fly us and the ship out of here?" Luffy asked Chasen.

Chasen opened his mouth to reply but Law spoke first. "He can't carry an entire ship. Don't be stupid, Luffy."

"Aw, really? That would be so cool if he could," Luffy said.

"Anyway," Chasen said. "What shall we do today to pass time until tonight?"

"I don't really care," Law said.

"Let's go into town then," Luffy said. "Maybe they have something there we can do."

"Come to think of it," Chasen said. "I did read about a fighting contest today."

"I never heard of that," Law said.

"It's on the north side of town," Chasen said. "We could go there and kill some time."

"Yeah! I want to fight!" Luffy threw his hands up into the air.

"There's also a prize," Chasen said. "The winner will get a hundred thousand berries."

"Come on, Law! Let's go! Let's do it!" Luffy cheered.

"Well, we could use the money," Law said.

"Is that a yes?" Luffy asked.

"Are Devil Fruit users allowed?" Law asked.

"Of course they are," Chasen replied.

"Then let's go," Law said.

"Yeah!" Luffy jumped up. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"He's so energetic," Chasen said.

"Let's go!" Luffy ran out of the cave.

Law sighed as he and Chasen followed after his brother. Their walk was filled with birds singing and their shoes on the grass below them. Suddenly a girl's scream erupted in the air.

"What was that?" Luffy asked.

"Someone screamed," Chasen said.

Just then a long, black haired girl came running out of the woods. The large sword she was carrying on her back caught on a bush, sending her tumbling to the ground. Three guys then came out of the brushes and stood over her.

"We got you now, girly," one of them said.

"Gum Gum Gatlin!" Luffy threw out his fists and knocked the three guys flying away.

"Well, that was quick and easy," Chasen said.

The three walked over to her. Law's eyes went to the sword on her back. It was a nodachi. And a sinister feeling was coming from it, meaning it was a cursed sword.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she said wiping away her tears. "I've been running from them all day!"

"All day?" Chasen asked. "And no one helped you?"

The girl looked up and glared at the boy. "Not everyone on the planet is nice."

"Uh huh." Chasen crossed his arms and frowned.

"You two know each other?" Law asked.

"No," they both said.

"So who are you?" Luffy asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she stood up. "My name is Leila."

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy said. "This is my brother, Law."

"Chasen," Chasen said flatly.

"Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Leila asked. She looked at Law and smile. "Maybe I could take you somewhere? I have a ship."

"You have a ship?!" Luffy screamed.

"I do." Leila nodded. "It was a gift from my dad."

"And you're sailing it all on your own?" Chasen crossed his arms over his chest. "A little girl like you?"

"I'm not a little girl!" Leila snapped.

"You're shorter than all of us," Chasen pointed out.

Law checked out the girl's height. Chasen was right. She was shorter by several inches. Just like his blue haired girl. His heart strummed in his chest. He wanted to see his mysterious blue haired girl. Her cut off shorts and tube top only made her look even younger.

"If you and Law need to go somewhere, I will be more than glad to take you," Leila said.

"We're pirates," Luffy said.

"I don't mind," Leila said. "I have friends who are pirates as well."

"Yet you're sailing all by yourself? Where are your friends?" Chasen asked.

"Shut up! I'm not talking to you!" Leila said.

"Are you two sure you don't know each other?" Law asked.

"Fine," Leila said. "We might have run into each other a while back. He's a jerk. Just ignore him."

"He's our friend. And he's on our crew," Luffy said.

"So if they go then I go." Chasen smirked.

Leila gritted her teeth. "Fine. But stay out of my way."

"Not happening, sweetheart," Chasen said.

"So where's this ship of yours?" Luffy asked.

"It's docked not far from here," Leila said. She head off into the woods. "I'll show you."

"I don't think we should," Chasen said. "She's not a good person."

"I'll be fine," Luffy said following after the girl. "Let's go!"

"If you say so," Chasen said.

Law watched them go before following after them. It seemed to take only a few seconds for them to break through the forest and come to the cove where Leila had her ship docked. "We were that close to the sea and we didn't smell it?"  
"Not hardly," Chasen said.

"What does that mean?" Law asked.

"Nothing," Chasen said.

"Wow!" Luffy pulled himself onto the ship then ran around the deck. "It's amazing!"

Law and Chasen followed Leila up the rope ladder. Chasen looked to a room that was on the deck level. "That the navigation room? Or the captain quarters?"

"Navigation," Leila said. "And I'd like it if you all stayed out of there."

"Well, fancy that. I'm a navigator as well." Chasen smirked. "We'll get to split the shifts."

"Not likely," Leila said.

"We'll have to," Chasen said. "You can't stay up all night long. Your _mind_ will be so clouded with sleep."

"You're a real jerk," Leila said.

"Meaningless coming from you," Chasen said.

"I hope you two arguing isn't going to be a regular thing," Law said.

"Don't worry, Law," Chasen said. "It won't last for much longer."

"I guess we'll see about that," Leila said.

"Yes, we will," Chasen said.

"Let's set sail!" Luffy shouted from the Crow's Nest.

"Already?" Leila asked.

"Of course!" Luffy dropped back down to the deck. "We have lots of islands to explore!"

"Fine," Leila said. "Let's get going."

The small group scattered around the ship. Chasen and Law unfurled the sails while Luffy sat at the head of the ship and Leila took the helm. With in no time at all, they headed off into the water.

"Do you know how to even use that thing?" Law asked while he glanced at the sword as he walked up to the helm.

"No," Leila said. "I just ended up with it. I'm actually afraid of swords. And it's a cursed sword anyway." She held out the sword to Law. "Do you want it? I'm surely not going to use it even if I could touch it. Its name is Kikoku."

Law took a hold of the sword. Something about touching it and its name sounded strikingly familiar. He felt this sword was meant to be his. He unsheathed it. And sure enough the sword let him hold it. "Kikoku, huh?"

"Pardon me for being blunt, but you're very cute," Leila said. "I hope we get to know each other very well."

Law frowned. Her words struck a sour note with him. He didn't like her calling him cute. That was reserved for someone else. For his blue haired girl, whoever she was. Turning from her, he took a few swipes with the sword.

"Amazing!" Leila clapped. "I had a feeling you were going to be good with that sword! You're an expert! You must have had former training."

"I'm so sure you did," Chasen said with a roll of his eyes.

"Shut up!" Leila snapped. "No one asked you anyway!"

"Actually, I haven't trained with a sword at all," Law said. "Or not that I remember."

"You must just be destined to use it then," Leila said.

"Funny you should speak of destiny," Chasen said.

"Must you always interrupt?!" Leila demanded.

"Yes, I must considering what you did back in-"

"Just shut up!" Leila snapped. "No one wants you here!"

"You're the only one who doesn't want me here!" Chasen said.

Law sighed and walked away from them. Heading back down to the deck, he sheathed the sword then sat down against the side of the ship. With a relaxing sigh he closed his eyes.

 _Reopening his eyes, he looked up to the other side of the ship. She appeared to him again. This time she was standing on the railing doing some slow forward hand springs. He watched her closely. Her hands placed down on the railing, she lifted her feet above her before completing the turn. She then bent down. His eyes traced her slender legs just before she leaped into the air and landed perfectly back on the railing. She glanced over at him and smiled. His heart pounded in his chest. He knew, somehow, that he was in love with her. She jumped off the railing and walked over to him. She knelt down, her smile faded from her lips. "What is it? What's wrong?"_

" _You have to snap out of it, Law," she said. "You have to remember. Don't let L-"_

A loud thump made Law jump and startled him awake. Disoriented, her looked around to find rock on the deck in front of him.

"What's wrong with you?!" Leila screamed.

"I've asked myself that question about you several times!" Chasen shouted back.

Law stood up and walked back up to the helm. He opened his mouth to speak to them but paused when he saw they had already landed on an island. "What the…when did we get here? We just left…"

"What are you talking about, Law?" Luffy asked. "We've been sailing for three weeks now."

"Three weeks?" Law rubbed his neck. "That's just not possible. I just sat down a fell asleep for a moment."

"Why don't you tell us what's on your mind, Law?" Chasen asked. "You've been acting kind of strange for a while now."

"I don't know." Law rubbed his shoulder. "Maybe I'm losing it."

"Of course you're not," Leila said. She walked behind Law and started rubbing his shoulders. "You're too tense. You haven't been sleeping much have you?"

"Not really," Law said. "I keep having these strange dreams."

"About what?" Chasen asked.

"No! Don't talk about them!" Leila said. "It'll only make it worse. You should relax. Oh! I know!" She grabbed onto Law's arm and snuggled against him. "This island has a spa. You and me should head there right now."

"No, thanks." Law pulled his arm away from her and took a few steps away.

"Law?" Luffy tilts his head. "Are you sure you're alright? I know there's been something on your mind. It has something to do with that book you keep writing in, doesn't it?"

"What book?" Leila asked.

Law pondered Luffy's words. Maybe he should just tell what he was writing in his book. Keeping it a secret sure wasn't doing anything for him. Pulling out his book, he said, "I keep having dreams and visions about a blue haired girl. I have no idea who she is or why I keep seeing her. That's what this book is. I write down everything I remember when I see her. This might sound crazy, but I think she's trying to tell me something."

"Like what? That you need to come find her?" Chasen asked.

"Don't be stupid," Leila said. "It's just a stupid dream. Nothing more." She smiled at Law and reached for the book. "Just let it go. I'll get rid of this for you."

"Don't!" Law jerked the book back. "I'm keeping this book. She means too much to me."

"How can you say that over a girl that's not real?" Leila planted her hands on her hips.

"I say she is real," Chasen said.

"No one asked you!" Leila said. "Stay out of this!"

" _You're_ the one who needs to stay out of this!" Chasen said. "He and this girl are meant to be!"

"They are not!" Leila replied. "Just go away already!"

"Not happening, sweetheart!" Chasen smirked.

"What are you two talking about?" Law asked.

"Nothing," Leila said. "It's nothing."

"You two really don't like each other, do you?" Luffy laughed.

"You're a moron," Leila mumbled.

"I say you keep looking for you girl," Chasen said. "And who knows? Maybe you'll find her here on this island."

"No, he won't," Leila said. "We need to move on."

"You're not the captain," Chasen said. "It's up to Luffy what we're going to do. What do you say, Luffy?"

"We're staying! I want to check this place out!" Luffy said running his eyes over the island. A thick forest and several mountains peppered the area. "I bet there's treasure out there! Look at all those mountains! Mountains have caves! And caves usually hold treasure!"

"Yeah," Chasen said. "I agree that we're going to find some treasure on this island."

Leila fumed.

"There something wrong, Leila?" Luffy asked. "Don't you want to find treasure?"

"Uh, of course," Leila said with a forced smile. "Let's go find it."

"Yeah!" Luffy jumped off the ship.

Chasen grabbed the rope ladder and tossed it over the side. He then bowed and said, " _Ladies_ first."

"Very funny." Leila walked over and climbed down.

Law waited for her and Chasen to climb down before he made his wait down the ladder. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, they were traveling through the thick forest. Luffy was in the lead. He watched as his brother marched happily along the nonexistent trail while Chasen and Leila continued to shoot each other glares and…warning looks?

Looking around Law noted something was very odd about this forest. It was silent. Way too silent for a place that should be teaming with life. He scanned his eyes all over the place, trying to find the reason for it being so quiet. Maybe someone was out hunting? He didn't really believe so. The trees and bushes were so close and thick to each other that it would be hard to get a good shot off with a gun. Then he saw movement. He paused and kept a close eye on the spot were he knew someone had moved. They stepped out from behind the tree. His heart hammered against his chest. She was unmistakable. It was his blue haired dream girl.


	6. Revelations

Revelations

Law swallowed. His head spun as he inspected the girl for a few more seconds before his feet moved him closer to her. She jumped at his closeness and scurried back away from him until she hit a tree. Her grey eyes filled with fear as she curled into herself and leaned against the tree. He inched closer then knelt down. "Hey, easy now. I'm not going to hurt you."

He waited a few seconds before reaching out to her. Placing his hand on her head, he stroked her hair soothingly. She shook violently underneath his touch. But after a couple minutes, she settled down and glanced up at him. He smiled. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you. Will you come with me?"

She blinked, her grey eyes searching him. Slowly, she inched towards him and curled up against his chest.

Taking that as a sign of trust, he slipped his arms around her and stood up. Turning around he headed back the way he came. "I have some friends near by. You don't have to be scared of them. They won't hurt you. Do you understand?"

She nodded.

"Hey! Law!" Luffy shouted out.

The girl jumped and tucked her face in his shirt.

"It's all right," Law said. "That was just Luffy. He's a moron but he's nice. He won't hurt you at all."

She continued to press her face in his shirt.

A moment later, Luffy and the other two appeared around a tree. Luffy said, "Hey! Where did you run off to? Who's the girl?"

"I found her," Law said. "She was just in the forest. And she's the girl I keep seeing in my visions and dreams."

"You can't be serious," Leila said. "It's just a coincidence. And where do you think you're taking her?"

"To the ship," Law said.

"You can't do that," Leila said. "You have no idea where she's been. She could have some lethal disease for all we know."

Law frowned at her. "I'm a doctor. If she's sick I can help her."

"You don't have to be so heartless, witch," Chasen said.

"Shut up!" Leila snapped. "This is all your fault!"

The girl jumped. Whimpering, she trembled in Law's hold. Law sighed and tightened his arms around her. "It's all right. They argue a lot." Reaching the ship, he warped himself and Neo onto it. "This is our ship. It's going to be your home…well, it's going to be the place you stay from now on. Your home is…somewhere else. I think."

She looked up at him.

Law looked at her and smiled. "Sorry. I'm a little off here lately. But don't worry. I'm going to take care of, even though I'm not sure why. It just feels right despite how fast this is moving."

"And you should listen to those feelings," Chasen said. "They'll never lead you wrong."

Law turned around to find him, Luffy, and Leila were now all on the deck with them. Luffy was looking curious to the new girl while Leila looked extremely displeased. "Something wrong, Leila?"

"Plenty is wrong," Leila said. She glanced up at the sky before bring her eyes back down to Law. "It's not safe for us to bring someone we don't know on the ship. She could be an enemy for all we know."

"You can't be serious," Chasen said. "You invited three strangers onto you ship without any problems or worries. And those strangers are pirates. She's a scare little girl. Her fear is real."

" _Two_ strangers. You just came onboard without permission," Leila said. "And it's not the same. Law saved me. I owe him my life."

"Luffy saved you. You own Luffy your life," Chasen challenged. "You have no real reason for her not to be on this ship. So just give up this charade and let it go. Or is there something you're not telling everyone?"

"Just shut up," Leila hissed.

The girl jumped at Leila's harsh words. She whimpered and tried to move closer to Law.

"Will you stop being so aggressive?" Law said with a forced controlled anger. "You're scaring her."

"That's not my fault." Leila crossed her arms and narrowed her eyebrows.

"She's cute." Luffy walked closer to the girl and Law. He placed his hands on his knees and bent down a little. "Why do you think she's so scared?"

"From the looks of her torn shirt and all the scars on her body, she might have been abused," Law said. A spark of familiarity flashed through his body and mind. He's done this before. But where? And with whom?

"What is it, Trafalgar?" Chasen asked.

"I've done this before," Law said. He looked up at Chasen. "I think. Wait…what did you call me?"

"Law," Chasen said.

"Hm? No you didn't. You said something else," Luffy said trying to recall the name. "You said, um, Tral…Traff…ugh, my head hurts for all this thinking."

"Look, it doesn't matter what he called Law," Leila said. She then pointed out to the sea. "We can just leave her with the Navy and get out of here."

"The Navy?" Luffy looked out to the sea and saw that Navy ship sailing at them.

"They're clearly coming this way," Leila said. "So just give them over to her. I'm sure they'll find where she belongs. Or put her with someone who can take care of her."

"That's not going to happen," Law said. "And she is with someone who'll take care of her."

"We need to set sail before the Navy gets here!" Luffy said. "We're going to get arrested!"

"Why? We're not being hunted," Chasen said.

"Oh, that's right," Luffy said. "We still don't have bounties, but set sail anyway. Captain's orders!"

"You got it!" Chasen said. "Come on, Leila. Let's get going."

Growling, Leila stomped away from them and up to the helm.

Smiling, Chasen climbed upwards to release the sails.

Law walked over to the railing and sat down with the girl in his lap. He continued to hold her for a while. He watched as she started to look around their surroundings, eyeing this curiously and cautiously while the people onboard moved around and the ship pulled away from the island. "Well, Luffy was right about one thing." He smiled when she looked up at him. "You are very cute."

She blinked multiple times at him before tilting her head curiously.

"Hey, Law," Leila said when she came walking over to them. "How about we make lunch together? I'm sure you're hungry. I've got a craving for grilled fish and onigiri."

"Yeah! Food!" Luffy cheered.

Law looked up at her, wondering how she could has named his favorite food so easily. Surely it had to be just a coincidence. He dropped his eyes back down to the girl to find her snuggling back into his chest. "No. I'm staying with her."

"Come on," Leila said. "You can't stay every second beside her. Just leave her be."

"Why do you keep trying to come between us?" Law asked.

"It's nothing personal," Leila said looking as innocent as she possible could. "I just don't want to be alone."

"Then take Luffy or Chasen," Law said.

"They're not fun. And certainly not as cute as you," Leila said with a pout. "Please?"

"Give it up, Leila," Chasen said leaning against the mast. "You're never going to come between them. Just give it up already."

"I will never give up!" Leila growled between her teeth.

"You sure about that?" Chasen pointed up to the sky. Everyone's eyes followed his point.

"Crap! No! Not now!" Leila said as the world around them started twisting and blending together.

"What's going on?!" Luffy asked.

"The truth is finally coming out," Chasen said. "That's what's going on."

"What do you mean?!" Law asked. He looked down to find the girl was fading away from her. His heart skipped a beat in panic before a familiar feeling settled over him. He could sense her. He could sense her fear and concern over him. "Wait…that's…I know this feeling."

"What feeling?" Chasen asked. "Are you remembering?"

"It's Neo," Law said. "That's who the girl was. I mean that's who she is."

"That's right!" Chasen smiled. "It's good that this is finally over!"

"This will never be over!" Leila shouted.

"Just shut up already," Chasen said. "Now that your Devil Fruit is loosing control of this illusion everything is going back to normal."

Leila gritted her teeth, her face burning red with anger and fury. "You're going to pay for this!" She lunged for him. Just before she could get her fingers around his neck a vine wrapped around her. "What the heck?! You can't control vines!"

"No, but I can," Neo said.

"Neo!" Law said.

"I'm so glad you're all right," Neo said, tears pooling in her eyes. She flew over to him and clung to his shirt, his arms wrapping around her.

Law looked around. Both his crew and the Straw Hat crew were in an intense battle on a beach. Several trees had fallen from the battle and there were several potholes as well. One by one the people he didn't know started dropping to the ground.

"Do you remember what happened?" Neo asked.

"I think so," Law said.

"Leila used her Hypno Hypno Devil Fruit powers on you," Chasen said.

"Hypno Hypno?" Law asked.

"We can clear up everything later," Neo said. "Right now we have to finish this fight. Both sides are tired. We should be able to win now with you and Luffy back by our sides."

"Eh?" Luffy sat up, his hat falling half off his head. "What's going on?"

"Straw Hat." Law shook his head. He placed a kiss on Neo's forehead. "Don't worry, love. This fight will end soon."

"Good," Neo said. "Because I need some serious snuggles from you."

Law nodded. Reluctantly, he released her and grabbed Luffy but the front of his vest and pulled him to his feet. "Let's go, Straw Hat."

"Hey!" Luffy protested.

Neo picked Law sword up off the ground and handed it to him.

"Thanks, love." Law took it then glared at Leila who was trying to get free of Neo's vine. "I'll deal with you later."

"Gum Gum Gatlin!" Luffy ran into the fight, punching everyone, but for his friends, in the face and bodies.

"Hey! It's about time you two woke up!" Zoro said slicing down an enemy.

"We thought you were going to leave us with all this fun!" Sanji said kicking his opponent.

"Room!" Law held out his hand. He divided the enemies up and stuck them together in one giant ball putting all their feet and hands up at the top so they wouldn't move away.

"Ah! What happened?! We're going to die!"

"No! We're not bleeding!"

"How is this possible?!"

"About time!" Nami said panting. "I thought that fight would never end."

"Hard to believe it's only been five minutes since it started," Robin said.

"Captain!" Bepo cheered as he ran over to Law. "I'm so glad you're all right."

Law nodded. His arm went right around Neo when she appeared by his side again.

"Neo! Captain!" Their crew came running up to them.

"You two all right?" Kailen asked.

"Neo, how's your stress level?" Topaz asked.

"Fine now that I have Law again." Neo snuggled against him.

"So what exactly were you trying to accomplish here?" Sanji asked. Everyone gathered around him as he addressed Leila. "Do you have any idea how stupid it was to attack us like that?"

Leila sighed. "I wanted Law for myself. I'm in love with him. And I know he's in love with me too. So I tried to use my Devil Fruit powers on him to make him realize that."

Neo glared and snuggled in closer to Law. "He doesn't love _you_. He loves me."

"You're delusional," Leila said.

"You should watch who you call delusional," Shachi said.

"You're the one who has the issues here," Penguin added. "The captain would never fall for a horrible person like you."

"But how is this possible?" Nami asked.

"And why did it only last for five minutes?" Robin added.

Leila tossed her head to the side. "I'm not telling you people anything."

"Because of the dangers of the Hypno Hypno Devil Fruit it has a time limit on it. You can only manipulate your target for five minutes before they wake up and everything goes back to normal," Chasen said. "The effects are only set if the person believes what she has said about them and their lives."

"You just never shut up, do you?" Leila glared.

"So how exactly did you get involved in all of this?" Zoro asked. "I thought you were part of her crew."

"I ran into Leila and her crew about seven months ago," Chasen said. "I noticed she was dressed a lot like Trafalgar was."

Everyone turned their eyes to Leila's clothes. She was wearing a black tube top with a yellow Jolly Roger that matched the Heart Pirates' and blue jean shorts with black spots and a white hat with black spots.

"I love his style," Leila said dreamily. "He's just so sexy in yellow and black."

Neo snapped out at vine, striking Leila on the cheek.

"Ouch! Watch it you brat!" Leila hissed. "You'll pay for scaring my beautiful face!"

"You'll do no such thing!" Penguin warned. "If you even try and touch her we'll all kill you!"

Leila flinched at their harsh glares before glaring back.

"Anyway, I found it odd so I did a little research on her," Chasen said. "I found out that she was really obsessed with Trafalgar and had hostile intentions towards the princess."

"So being a loyal Elemental to Neo you joined Leila's crew in an attempt to stop her," Sanji said.

"That's right." Chasen nodded. "Shortly after joining her crew I got her talking about her Devil Fruit powers. She laid out her entire plan for me. I never expected her plan to go a bit awry."

"And how did that happened?" Luffy asked.

"It's actually your fault, Straw Hat," Leila said.

"Me? What did I do?" Luffy asked.

"For the Hypno Hypno Devil Fruit to work properly the wielder has to know just about everything about them," Chasen said. "And Trafalgar isn't the easiest guy to get close to. So Leila had to go at it differently. She miss took Luffy being extremely close to Trafalgar when she asked about him. And when she did she got Luffy's entire backstory all the way up until recently. In doing that she couldn't remember everything that Luffy had told her so the memories she tried to feed Trafalgar and Luffy were consistent."

"So that's why time seemed to fly by and I couldn't remember things that should have happened," Law said.

"That's correct. Basically, the wielder can basically cover old memories with new ones," Chasen said.

"I see. So that's why Leila was trying to learn as much about Trafalgar as she possibly could. It is possible that those trapped within the illusions can realize what's going on, but it can be difficult," Chasen said. "Of course it helps when someone is in the illusion that remembers what's going on."

"It would have been perfect if you hadn't gotten involved," Leila said.

"So that's why you touched Leila when her body was glowing," Chopper said. "You were getting pulled into the illusion too."

"But how did you still retain your memories?" Brook asked.

"That's because I wasn't a target of Leila's," Chasen said. "Because of that I was able to keep a hold of my memories."

"So why didn't you just tell the captain and Straw Hat what was going on?" Bepo asked.

"I had to be careful," Chasen said. "They were vulnerable to words. If I said the wrong thing it could have damaged them a lot more than it would have helped them. And since I didn't know exactly what happened between the princess and Trafalgar, I had no idea what to really say. So all I did was try to drop hints to them so they would remember on their own."

"Thank you, Chasen," Neo said. "That was a dangerous thing you did, but I am grateful that you all came back unharmed."

"Anytime, my princess." Chasen bowed to her.

Neo shifted, uncomfortable at the bow.

"So what are we going to do with her now?" Sanji asked.

"It's not like we can let her go," Zoro said. "She could try this again."

"What else can we do?" Nami asked.

"Kill her," Zoro said.

"That might be the best solution," Shachi said.

"Or someone else could get a hold of the Devil Fruit and make things even worse," Sanji said. "As much as I don't want to say this, it might be better to keep her alive and let her keep the Devil Fruit."

"Law?" Neo looked up at him.

Law closed his eyes in thought. He opened them then placed a kiss in her hair. "Fine. We'll let her live. But not without consequences."

"What are you going to do?" Neo asked.

"Stuff that you don't want to know about." Law placed his hand on her rounded stomach. "You just go on back to the sub and take care of yourself and our baby. I'll handle her then come back to you. I know you're stressed from what's happened."

"Okay," Neo said. "Just don't take too long."

Law nodded. Cupping her face, he kissed her deeply.

"Don't kiss him, you tramp! He's mine!" Leila hissed and struggled against the vines.

Law kicked his boot out, nailing Leila on the lips. "Don't you dare talk about Neo like that!" He glared harshly. "Penguin, take Neo back to the sub. _Now_."

"Aye, Captain," Penguin said. He put his arm around Neo's shoulders and pulled her towards the sub. "Come on, Neo."

Neo watched Law for as long as she could before letting herself be pulled away from her lover. Reaching the sub, the majority of the pirates chose to stay outside while a few went inside with her and Penguin. She summoned a wind crystal and pulled them onto the deck. They entered into the sub and went downstairs to the rec. room. She let her eyes roam over the blue walls of the sub. The events of the day were finally settling in her mind. She could have very well lost Law today. Reaching the rec. room, she crumbled at the couch and dropped to her knees. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cried.

"It's all right, Neo," Penguin said as he, Robin, Chopper, Shachi, and Sanji gathered around her.

"I could have lost him," Neo said through her sobs.

"That never would have happened," Sanji said.

"She would have taken him away if it wasn't for Chasen," Neo said.

"I don't believe that's true," Robin said. "Your bond with Tra goes a lot deeper than that. You know that, Neo. He loves you very much. If she did manage to cover his old memories I know that your bond with him would have prevailed."

"Robin's right," Chopper said. "Nothing will ever come between you two."

"They're right," Penguin said. "The captain would have figured it out as soon as he saw you."

Brushing her tears away she nodded.

"Come on," Penguin said as he helped her onto the couch. "Sit up here."

"I'll make you a snack and some sweet tea," Sanji said as he headed for the door. "It'll calm your nerves."

"Thank you, Sanji," Neo said. Resting her head on Penguin's shoulder she sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing her stomach tenderly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so upset."

"You have every right to be upset," Chopper said. "You went through a lot today."

Neo nodded. "I'm glad it's over. Or almost over. How long do you think he'll be gone?"

"I'm sure he won't be gone for very long," Penguin said. "You know the captain will want to get back to you as soon as possible."

"What is he going to do to Leila?" Chopper asked.

"Torture her most likely," Penguin said. "But don't ask for details. Trust me. You'll live better without them."

"I see," Chopper said.

A few minutes later, Sanji walked in with her tea and a variety of food that helped calm nerves. "Here you go, my dear."

"Thanks, Sanji." Neo took the tray from him and placed it on her lap. She nibbled on a few blackberries while Sanji passed around snacks he made for everyone else. Fifteen more minutes passed by before Law finally warped into the rec. room. "Law."

Law gave the others a nod while they left the room. He sat down beside her just as the door closed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. "I'm here now."

Neo nodded then yawned.

Law placed his fingertips on her wrist, checking her pulse. "Your pulse is up."

"Do you blame it?" Neo asked. "I about lost it when she put you into that coma. Penguin and Chopper like to never got me to calm down enough to focus."

"A coma, huh?" Law mumbled.

"I don't know what else to call it," Neo said. "You basically were in one. I couldn't feel your mind at all. I thought you had died. That we had died. But thanks to my friends I was able to snap out of my shock and fight back."

"I'm sorry I put you through that," Law said.

"It wasn't your fault." Neo snuggled into his side and yawned again.

"Your going to sleep now," Law said.

"Uh huh." Neo fell asleep against him.

Law exhaled and closed his eyes. His brain started piecing together the events that had happened to lead this to this point in time.

 _"Hey, there's an island coming up!" Zoro shouted down from the Crow's Nest._

 _"Yeah! Finally!" Luffy cheered from the figurehead._

 _"It feels like it's been an entire year since we've see land," Usopp said._

 _Law glanced out from underneath his hat. The Straw Hats were scattered around the deck of the Sunny like they normally wore. Neo was among them. She was sitting with Nami and Robin and Chopper. The four were eating some form of snack that Sanji had clearly brought them. He glanced to his left to find the sub sailing right along side them._

 _"You okay, Law?" Neo walked over to him. "You seem a bit out of it."_

 _"I'm fine," Law said. "I guess I'm just a bit worried because of that nightmare you had."_

 _Neo nodded and sat down beside him. Her mind flashed back to her nightmare about Law becoming someone else and forgetting all about her._

 _"I have no idea why you'd have a nightmare like that but you know that I'll never forget you," Law said. "Our bond is too strong."_

 _"Still, something is going to happen," Neo said. She leaned against his shoulder. "I wonder how though. What kind of ability could cause someone to forget someone else?"_

 _"Amnesia," Law said._

 _"But you didn't get hurt in my nightmare," Neo said._

 _"Hypnosis would be another way," Law said._

 _"You're too smart for that though," Neo said._

 _Law smiled. It was true. He was too smart to get hypnotized by someone._

 _"Hey, we've landing," Chopper said running over to Neo. "Can we go to the bookstore together?"_

 _"Absolutely," Neo said. "You going to come with us, Law?"_

 _"I suppose I could," Law said. "There should be some new medical journals coming out soon."_

 _"Yes!" Neo squeezed Law's arm. "My lover is coming with us!"_

 _"Another playful mood swing," Usopp said._

 _"She's super cute when she has one," Franky said with a hearty laugh._

 _"I must agree," Robin said smiling._

 _"Me might as well do some shopping while we're here," Nami said._

 _"I too shall do some shopping," Brook said. "I could use some more strings for my violin."_

 _"I'll come with you, Brook," Usopp said. "What about you, Franky?"_

 _"Naw, you go on ahead," Franky said. "I'm going to get some supplies for the Sunny while we're here. We're getting a little low on nails."_

 _The two crews left their ships and gathered on the shore. After Law gave the crew their orders to return to the sub in six hours, they all dispersed. He, Neo, and Chopper headed for the bookstore. Neo, like always, had Chopper in her arms, carrying him around. Though it was becoming a bit more difficult to hold him like she usually did, like a teddy bear, since her stomach had grown bigger. She now had to carry Chopper like a child. Neither seemed to mind though._

 _Weaving through the lightly crowded streets, they found the bookstore on the main street and entered into it. Neo took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the books before she headed for the fantasy section. She flipped through the entire section before picking out two. She then followed Law and Chopper to the medical section. While they filtered through those books she read through a book about broiling fish. Once Law and Chopper found a couple books of their own, they paid for them and left._

 _"Huh?" Neo looked over her shoulder._

 _"What is it, Neo?" Chopper, walking beside her now, looked up at her._

 _"I'm not sure. But I felt like someone was watching us," Neo said._

 _"Are they a threat?" Chopper asked._

 _"I'm not sure," Neo said. "But I don't like it."_

 _Law hummed and looked around the town. Everything seemed normal as any other island. "Perhaps we should meet up with some of the crew just to be safe."_

 _"That might be a good idea," Chopper said. "Neo's really too far along to get into fights right now."_

 _"I'm fine, Chopper. I'm only five months," Neo said. "And I stick to long range combat when we do fight. You know that."_

 _"I know," Chopper said, shifting into his human form. "But you also know that we're not going to take chances with you."_

 _"Okay," Neo said. "I'll follow the doctor's orders."_

 _"I think Penguin and the others said they were going to the tavern near the docks," Chopper said. They headed there. The building was a simple wooden one with a few drunks laying around it outside. They ignored them and entered. They found their crewmates in the corner of the room, full of smiles and cheers for the women in the building._

 _"You're back early," Penguin said._

 _"Did you already get your shopping done?" Shachi asked, his cheeks red from the sake._

 _"I really wish you all wouldn't get drunk," Neo said._

 _"Sorry, Neo," Shachi said. "We won't drink much more."_

 _"Good." Neo sat down and picked up Chopper and placed him in her lap._

 _"Trafalgar Law!" a girl shrieked._

 _The pirates looked up to see a long black haired girl dressing in a black tube top with a yellow Jolly Roger that matched the Heart Pirates' and blue jean shorts with black spots and a white hat with black spots walking over to them. Her dark green eyes sparkled with admiration, as she looked right at Law._

 _"I can't believe it's you!" she said. "I'm so in love with you!"_

 _Neo narrowed her eyebrows._

 _"My name is Leila!" Leila said. "I've been looking all over for you! I'm such a fan!"_

 _"Uh oh," Shachi said. "I smell trouble."_

 _"No kidding," Penguin said. "Look, Leila-"_

 _"Mind if I sit with you?" Leila moved closer to Law. But since their were no other chairs for her to sit on she tried to sit on his lap._

 _Neo summoned all of her crystals. She lashed out with a gust of wind and knocked the girl against the wall. "Don't touch him!"_

 _"Neo," Law said. "Calm down. That's an order."_

 _Neo relaxed. Her arms tightened around Chopper and her crystals remained out. When the girl picked herself up off the floor, she wrapped a wall of vines between Law and the intruder. "Don't you dare come near him."_

Law opened his eyes. "That's right. It only escalated from there."

A knock came on the door. "It's me."

"Come on in, Penguin," Law said. His subordinate entered. "I figured you'd show up soon."

"She doing okay? How's her blood pressure?" Penguin asked.

Law pressed his figures to her wrist again. "She's fine. Her blood pressure is lowering."

"Nothing like snuggles from you to get her to calm back down," Penguin said. "How about the baby?"

"I'll check on our baby later just to be safe," Law said. "But since she wasn't stressed for very long our baby should be fine as well."

"That's a relief," Penguin said. "So how are you doing? Do you remember what happened?"

"I do." Law nodded. "That woman started stalking us after we met her at the bar. And Neo, being as emotional as she is, didn't like it and attacked her. Then things just escalated from there." He rubbed his forehead. "If I remember correctly, the way she trapped us was by a purple glow. The rest was explained by Chasen."

"That's it," Penguin said.

"Where is Chasen?" Law asked.

"He's outside talking to Topaz and Kailen," Penguin said. "I think they're exchanging information on what they know with what's happening with the world and Elementals. But I'm not exactly sure."

"Most likely that is what they're discussing," Law said.

Neo shifted against Law. "To noisy. Stop talking. More cuddling."

Penguin chuckled. "We'll I'll let you get back to taking care of her."

Law nodded. When Penguin was gone he wrapped his arms tighter around her and closed his eyes. Two hours later he was woken up by Neo craving ice cream.

"I'm wanting ice cream," Neo said rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Vanilla with caramel."

"We'll get you some," Law said.

"I have to go to the bathroom, too," Neo said. "Stupid pregnancy. Our baby always makes me go."

Law chuckled. "Just a few more months."

"I know." Neo stood up and headed for the door.

Law got up and followed her to their room. After using the facilities the two headed back up to the main deck to see where everyone was.

"Neo, my darling!" Sanji spun over to them. "You look lovely! How are you feeling?"

"I'm craving vanilla ice cream with caramel," Neo said.

"And you shall have it!" Sanji said before spinning off. He jumped over to the Sunny and disappeared into the kitchen.

"That guy," Zoro said. "If a woman told him to go walk barefoot through lava he'd do it without hesitating."

"So how are you doing, Princess?" Chasen asked.

"I'm fine," Neo said.

"So what are you doing to do now?" Brook asked.

"Keep on sailing around the world I guess," Chasen said. "I might even go to Luminous for a while. I grew up in the human world so I've never been there before."

"It's a very lovely place," Neo said. "And I know everyone who lives there would love for you to come."

"Especially if you're bringing news of their princess," Shachi said.

"I have no doubts about that," Chasen said. "And I'm also curious to meet Red Hair Shanks. So I might look him up as well."

"If you do tell him I said hi," Neo said.

"I will." Chasen nodded.

"The ice cream is ready!" Sanji sang out and he danced over to Neo with a bowl of it in his hands. "Here you go, my dear! Fresh vanilla ice cream topped off with caramel!"

"You're so sweet, Sanji." Neo took it and took a bite. "So yummy!"

"You should stay with us for a while," Topaz said. "That way you can rest up from today's events."

"Thanks," Chasen said. "I'd like that."

"Oh, Luffy, how are you doing in all of this?" Neo asked.

"I'm doing great," Luffy said after swallowing a big bite of ice cream. "It was fun being brothers with, Tra. I do wish that you could have met Ace and Sabo in real life. I think you three would have been good friends."

Law, not knowing what to say, just shrugged.

"So what happened to Leila?" Nami asked.

"I made sure to break her fantasies with me," Law said.

"I'm not sure I want to know what that mean," Nami said.

"I bet you took her heart out," Shachi said.

"I did." Law nodded. "And I guarantee she'll no longer fantasize about me from this day on."

"Good," Neo said. "No one but me is allowed to fantasize about you."

"Of course." Law smiled.

"Let's eat!" Luffy shouted.

"I couldn't agree more," Neo said.

"Then allow us to do all the cooking tonight," Sanji said pointing to himself and Basil.

"You sure?" Neo asked.

"We're positive," Basil said. "You've gone through enough. You just sit with the captain, rest, and enjoy your ice cream."

"All right then." Neo smiled. "Let's start a fire!"

"You got it!" Topaz said.

Some of the crew ran off to pick up some of the broken branches from their fight. Once it was in place, Topaz summoned a fire crystal and had it blazing with in a few seconds. The heat flared out, the fire snapped and crackles, as the smoke filled their noses. The musicians pulled out their instruments and started playing. The more light hearted of the pirates started dancing around while the rest just sat or stood around enjoying the music. Before long Sanji and Basil had a banquet spread out for them all. During their party the opposing crew picked themselves of off the ground and disappeared.

"Where do you think they're going?" Franky asked.

"Who cares?" Zoro said. "As long as they don't try and pick a fight with us again they can do as they wish."

"They might be going after Leila," Kailen said. "I wonder if they'll remain in her crew or leave after she got beaten. I also wonder how they served her as her crew. A woman like that would drive me crazy."

"A least she's out of our hair now," Shachi said. "I hope we never run into her again."

"I'm sure after what the captain did to her we will never hear of or see her again," Bepo said.

"And that is the best thing she can do," Neo said. "If she tries to hit on my Law again I won't be so nice next time." She took an aggressive bit of her ice cream. "I'll dump the entire sea on her and then a couple mountains."

"Dang. She can be scary when she wants to be," Usopp said with a shiver. "I'm glad we're on the same side."

Law chuckled. Pride filled his chest at how aggressive Neo was being. He was going to have to use that aggression later.

 _'Naughty boy.'_ Neo thought to him. _'You should be having sexual thoughts right now.'_

 _'I'll have them whenever I please. You're extremely sexy when you're aggressive.'_

 _'You really like it?'_

 _'I do.'_

 _'Then maybe I will use it against you later.'_

 _'And why not now?'_

 _'Because I'm still hungry.'_ Neo picked a piece of fish off her plate and ate it. "So good!"

"I guess I'll have to wait then," Law said.

"What for what?" Luffy asked.

"Luffy, you can be so clueless at times," Nami said.

"I think that's for the best." Robin chuckled. "He might interrupt them."

"We'd have a dead captain if that were to happen," Usopp said.

"That's not a bad idea," Law said with a smirk.

"You behave!" Neo popped him on the chest with the back of her hand.

"Wow," Chasen said. "Are they always like this?"

"Not always," Topaz said. "Things are just a bit more intense since Neo's been pregnant."

"I see," Chasen said. "You guys are a lot of fun, but I don't think I could handle sailing with you all for too long."

The pirates laughed. They all understood where the wind Elemental was coming from. Pushing it aside they continued their party well into the night. After Neo had finished eat, Law warped her away from the group, leaving them with their laughter and merriment.

…

 **Author's Notes: Sorry the story flopped. But thanks for reading. Hopefully my future stories won't flop. I'm going to work on them differently from now on.**


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